Arlington Select Board moves February meeting to nail down override amount before March vote

ARLINGTON -- January 26, 2026, Arlington Select Board unanimously backed a rescheduled meeting to finalize a Proposition 2½ override amount ahead of a March 28 public vote. Town Manager Jim Feeney and Deputy Town Manager and Finance Director Julie Weyman presented the FY27 budget, which projects $237.9 million in revenue and carries a roughly $3 million deficit that balloons to an estimated $18.3 million by fiscal year 2028 without an override. The board voted 5-0 to move its February 9 meeting to February 12, the same day the state Group Insurance Commission votes on health plan design changes that Feeney said could meaningfully alter the override ask. Feeney described specific consequences of a failed override including summer yard waste elimination (saving roughly $300,000), Fox Library phase-out starting in FY27, and eventual police and fire layoffs in FY28. The board also voted 5-0 on a consent agenda, a school drop-off zone sign change near Leslie Ellis School, and receipt of a mid-year CDBG report showing just over 1,200 Arlington residents served at the program's halfway point, representing 80 percent of its annual public service goal.