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FY26 Budget Override (ARCHIVED)
On Tuesday 3/25/25, Natick voters passed the FY2026 Budget Override (60% "Yes" v. 40% "No") - see election results. The override will go into effect on July 1, 2025. This webpage contains the documents, videos, and other resources prepared for the Natick community.
THE PAGE IS OUTDATED/ARCHIVED CONTENT FOR REFERENCE
The Town of Natick is set to include a FY2026 Budget Override ballot question as part of the March 25th Annual Town Election (totaling $7M), due to expenses exceeding revenues in recent years. A number of factors have led to a structural deficit in the Town's operating budget, including: increasing student needs/costs, inflationary costs, and expiring Covid-related funds.
The Town is proposing a $7,000,000 operational override for the FY2026 operating budget. To pass, the override will require a majority "yes" vote at the upcoming Annual Town Election on March 25th, 2025.
Find a sample ballot (PDF) for the 3/25/25 Annual Town Election (including: Override Ballot Question)
Additional Annual Town Election information:
- 2025 Annual Town Election webpage
- Voter information (incl: voter registration, poll locations, precinct map & more)
Looking for a simple override summary? (printer-friendly PDF) View this informative, 1-page summary (PDF)
#1 - Want to stay informed of FY26 Budget Override updates?
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including: meeting notices, agendas, new documents, & more
#2 - Want to submit a FY26 Budget Override question to Town/NPS staff?
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Use this Q&A Tool (Google Form) or scroll below to find details
Submit a question
View a catalog of all answers
(updated through 3/15/25)
I. Timeline
Key Dates:
Preliminary Public Meetings
- 10/22/24 - Town Administration Memo Released (see document below)
- 10/30/24 - Town Memo Shared At Select Board Meeting
- 11/4/24 - Town Memo Shared At School Committee Meeting
- 12/16/24 - Joint Select Board & School Committee Meeting
Participatory Public Engagement
- 1/21/25 - FY26 Budget Override: Public Forum #1* @ Morse Library (7:00PM - 8:30PM, in the Lebowitz Meeting Hall / lower level)
- 2/3/25 - Joint Budget Meeting with Select Board, School Committee, & Finance Committee (details TBD)
- 2/11/25 - FY26 Budget Override: Public Forum #2* @ Community Senior Center (7:00PM - 8:30PM, in the Great Room)
- 3/12/25 - FY26 Budget Override: Public Forum #3* @ Morse Library (7:00PM - 8:30PM, in the Lebowitz Meeting Hall / lower level) - find meeting details
* each Public Forum (3) will be led by Town & NPS staff and aim to [1] present any relevant or timely materials and [2] offer an open platform for residents to voice their opinions, ask questions, and share feedback. The goal is to foster a collaborative and inclusive decision-making process.
Key Milestones
- FY26 Budget Released: by 2/1/24
- Select Board to vote on creating a ballot question: by 2/18/25
- Annual Town Election: Tuesday 3/25/25
Finance Committee Meetings:
The Finance Committee will play an important role to review all budgetary and potential override matters during the Feb - Mar '25 timeframe. A calendar will appear & auto-populate with all Finance Committee meetings (all meetings are confirmed at least 48 hours in advance). You can sign-up here for meeting notifications (email or sms/text) as agendas are posted.
II. Definitions
#1 - Budget Override
- An override is a voter-approved, permanent property tax increase. It is designed to provide municipalities with the ability to generate sufficient revenues to fund recurring costs that are likely to continue into the future, such as annual operating expenses for educational and municipal services.
- A “General Override,” a “Proposition 2½ Override,” or an “Operating Override” are all different titles for the same effort
#2 - Proposition 2.5%
- A Massachusetts law enacted in 1980 that strictly limits the amount of property tax revenue a municipality can raise through real estate and personal property taxes; ie. generally speaking, the Town budget is limited due to this 2.5% increase in a given fiscal year.
- Public Forum #3 (3/12/25)
- Public Forum #2 (2/11/25)
- Preliminary FY26 Budget (2/3/25)
- FY26 budget presentation: watch 00:00:01 - 01:33:00 (1hr 31min)
- Public Forum #1 (1/21/25)
- Joint Session: Select Board & School Committee (12/16/24)
- Override discussion: watch 00:01:40 - 01:34:03 (1hr 32min)
- This meeting provides baseline financial data and discussion, as context for potential FY26 Budget Override
Documents from Override-Related Public Meetings:
Override Meeting Materials (Jan - Mar '25, in descending order)
#1 - Public Forum #3 (3/12/25) - Final Presentation from Town & NPS (PDF)
#2 - Select Board Commitments (3/19/25)
#3 - Finance Committee Override Review and Report
#4 - Updated FY26 Override Budget (PDF), as presented to the Select Board on 3/5/25 (based on final ballot question and other recently-confirmed numbers, post the 2/1/25 Budget Book)
#5 - Public Forum #2 (2/11/25)
Town
NPS
#6 - FY26 Preliminary Budget (as part of 2/3/25 Joint Session w/ Select Board, School Committee, and Finance Committee)
Town
- FY26 Town Budget Presentation (PDF)
- FY26 Town Budget Book (PDF) (detailed 315-page document)
NPS
- FY26 NPS Budget Presentation (PDF)
- FY26 NPS Budget Process (PDF)
- FY26 NPS Budget Book (PDF) (detailed 129-page document)
#7 - Public Forum #1 (1/21/25)
#8 - Select Board Update (PDF)
#9 - Joint Session Preliminary Meeting (12/16/24)
Natick: Primary Budget webpages:
Additional documents:
- Proposition 2½ Overrides & Exclusions (source: mass.gov)
- Proposition 2½ and Tax Rate Process (source: mass.gov, 9x informative videos)
- An Overview of Proposition 2½ (source: Massachusetts Municipal Association)
VI. Projected Impact on Real Estate Taxes
- Click to view a printer-friendly version of this chart detailing projected impact of real estate taxes (PDF) -- it also enables better viewability on a mobile device.
- Or view a calculator from MA Division of Local Services (DLS) - https://dlsgateway.dor.state.ma.us/reports/rdPage.aspx?rdReport=Analysis.TaxImpactCalc
VII. Tax Assistance & Savings Opportunities
- Tax Deferral & Exemption Programs (offerings for veterans, seniors, disabled & more)
- Natick Assistance Programs (a summary of local offerings to assist residents needs)
- Tax Work-Off Program (assists seniors & veterans with an opportunity to work for Town/NPS departments, in exchange for reduced property tax bills)
VIII. Q&A Tool
This opportunity is a Town & NPS staff-led effort to ensure that Natick residents are informed. Town/NPS staff will review all public questions on a rolling basis, and publish answers.
** Closed as of 3/15/25 **
Q&A Tool Process:
- Natick residents submit questions via this Google Form
- Town/NPS staff will publish weekly Q&A summaries with official answers (approx. 1-2 weeks after a given week closes)
- Town/NPS staff will focus on answering "top" questions, up to 40 answered questions per week (note: an archive of all questions will be published to this webpage; goal = transparency & accountability)
Question Logistics:
- Weeks are defined as Sunday-Saturday
- Staff will attempt to respond to ALL questions. It's estimated that staff will be able to answer ~40 questions weekly, due to finite staff resources.
- All questions will be anonymous (ie. the Google Form will not collect personally-identifiable information)
- Any inappropriate or personally-identifiable questions will be redacted
All questions should be sent to one of the following email addresses, based on given topic:
Town and NPS staff committed to publishing answers (ie. responses) on a weekly basis. The target publishing schedule is a ~1-2 weeks after a week's close (Sun - Sat).
HEADLINE: For weekly updates, please toggle through each weekly "batch" - eg. "Batch #2 (1/5/25 - 1/11/25)"
** AS OF SUNDAY 3/23/25, Town staff shifted to a single, consolidated batch (eliminating the weekly batches) as the election season came to a close -- see below "Resident Batch" **
note: the Q&A Tool experience is best viewed on a desktop or laptop (v. a mobile phone)
Find a detailed document with all resident-submitted questions (12/20/24 - 3/15/25)
Total questions (including Town/NPS staff-provided responses) = 175
Find a series of questions from the Finance Committee (+ members of the public) - Preliminary Override Questions From Finance Committee Members And Members of the Public
Total questions (including Town/NPS staff-provided responses) = 52