Arlington Town Meeting Approves $3.5 Million in Retroactive Police and Fire Contracts

ARLINGTON -- May 20, 2026, Arlington Town Meeting wrapped its 2026 annual session on the eighth night, approving $3.5 million in retroactive pay for police and firefighters who had worked without contracts since fiscal year 2021 and endorsing a $3.05 million Community Preservation Act spending plan that directs $500,000 toward a 97-unit affordable housing campus near Arlington High School. Town Manager Jim Feeney told the body he was "very pleased to finally have all of our employees under agreement for the first time in a long time," with current agreements now running through fiscal year 2027. Finance Committee Chair Christine Deschler also won approval of $11,368,820 in free cash to offset the fiscal year 2027 tax levy, $76,500 for the town's water bodies program, and $1,569,608 in borrowing authority for private road repairs in the Kelwin Manor neighborhood. Members passed eight non-binding resolutions by wide margins, including measures endorsing hybrid town meeting participation (146-34), single-payer healthcare (160-13), Fourth Amendment workplace protections against federal immigration enforcement (170-6), and a ban on bromethalin rat poison on municipal property (167-2). Precinct 14 member Guillermo Hamlin announced he expects to vacate his seat after purchasing a home in West Medford, describing his six years of service as "a great privilege of my life."