Duxbury Faces Significant Budget Shortfall, Considers Override
Officials Reveal Potential Cuts Across Multiple Departments for FY26
DUXBURY - December 9 - Duxbury officials unveiled a stark financial outlook for the upcoming fiscal year 2026, revealing a structural deficit that could lead to significant cuts across multiple town departments. The Sustainable Budget Task Force is recommending an operational override to address the shortfall and maintain current service levels.
Town Manager René Read presented a balanced budget for FY26 at Monday night's Select Board meeting, but emphasized it came at a steep cost. The proposed cuts include laying off 24 full-time positions in the school department and 13 positions across 11 town departments.
"These reductions will create extreme pressure on other employees to absorb the workload within their respective department," Read said.
The Fire Department would lose two firefighter positions, while the Police Department would cut two patrol officers. The Department of Public Works faces the loss of five positions, including mechanics and equipment operators.
Fire Chief Rob Reardon warned of the potential impact on emergency services. "With fewer Firefighter/Paramedics, we can no longer guarantee that same level of response we have today," he said. "The proposed cuts to your Fire Department would return our shift staffing to 1979 levels 50% of the time."
Police Chief Mike Carbone echoed these concerns, noting that patrol staffing levels have remained unchanged since 1976 despite the town's population doubling and call volumes more than doubling.
"Reducing staff means that fewer officers are available for patrol coverage, which would lead to longer response times and less proactive policing," Carbone said.
The library would lose its Sunday hours, which Director Denise Garvin described as "our busiest day per hour." She added that the cuts could jeopardize the library's state aid of about $40,000 annually.
School Superintendent Danielle Klingaman said the level-funded budget would be "devastating" to the school district. "We will be facing the elimination of up to 24 positions across the district," she said. "There will be inequity in access to high-quality learning. Class sizes will increase at many levels."
Finance Director Mary MacKinnon explained that the town's revenue sources, particularly property taxes which account for 80% of the town's income, are constrained by Proposition 2 1/2. This law limits annual property tax increases to 2.5% plus new growth.
"When 80% of your budget is funded by property taxes and those revenues are constrained by 2.5% per year, it becomes very difficult to support the inflationary increases along with state mandates and a competitive labor market," MacKinnon said.
The Sustainable Budget Task Force, formed to address the looming deficit, is recommending an operational override to maintain services. Task force member Betsy Sullivan urged the Select Board to support putting an override question on the ballot.
"We need to get to work on determining what this override will look like, which is inclusive of the sustainable aspect that is so important," Sullivan said.
Several residents spoke in favor of an override, citing concerns about maintaining the quality of schools and town services.
"I support an override to properly and adequately meet our collective needs," said Jay Zysk, a parent and longtime resident. "Schools, fire, police, library, public works, natural resources, recreation, town administration."
The Select Board did not vote on the override recommendation at the Dec. 9 meeting. The next steps include further refinement of the budget numbers and potential override amount.
The Annual Town Meeting is scheduled for March 8, where voters will have the opportunity to discuss and vote on budget articles. If an override article is approved at Town Meeting, it would then go to a ballot vote on March 22.