Arlington Select Board unanimously backs $14.8 million override for March 28 ballot

ARLINGTON -- February 12, 2026, Arlington Select Board unanimously placed a $14.8 million Proposition 2½ operating override on the March 28 ballot. Town Manager James Feeney presented a long-range financial plan calibrated to leave just $9,300 in the override stabilization fund, less than a third of a percent of the town's annual budget, after incorporating a 2.09 percent state aid increase from the governor's budget, revised motor vehicle excise projections, and anticipated fee increases, though hoped-for health insurance savings evaporated after the Group Insurance Commission deferred most cost-cutting measures at its February 12 meeting. Feeney said the override would cost the owner of an average single-family home assessed at roughly $1.2 million approximately $1,030 per year. Select Board member and Long-Range Planning Committee Chair Stephen DiCourcy moved the ballot language, citing an 11 percent projected health insurance cost increase and a 6 percent rise in curbside collection costs as key drivers. The board also adopted companion override commitments pledging no additional overrides before fiscal year 2030, school budget growth capped at 4 percent annually, and general government growth capped at 3.25 percent annually through fiscal year 2029.