Hatfield Finance Committee Endorses Two Budgets, Tables Tennis Court Article

HATFIELD -- April 25, 2023, Hatfield's Finance Committee endorsed two competing fiscal year 2024 budgets ahead of a May 9 town meeting and a May 16 Proposition 2.5 override vote. Select Board Chair Luke Longstreeth and members Edmund Jaworski and Julia Frisby, sitting jointly with the Finance Committee, unanimously backed both the balanced budget, which requires 2.5 percent departmental cuts and would eliminate teaching positions, and the override budget, which would require voter approval of a tax increase. Updated cherry sheet figures placed projected FY24 local aid receipts at roughly $767,000, down from $793,000 in the current year, with charter school tuition assessments reduced to $295,906. A $20,000 Town Hall HVAC upgrade was pulled from the warrant after the board concluded no decision had been made on the long-term use of the second floor space. A Community Preservation Commission article seeking up to $400,000 for tennis and pickleball courts was flagged for location-language revisions, with Frisby arguing the "Town Center" designation had not been adequately vetted with the community or abutting property owners. The board scheduled a public budget forum for May 2 at 6 p.m. at Hatfield Elementary School and set a May 9 town meeting start of 6:30 p.m. at Smith Academy.