PASE recommends override and community pledge to address fiscal shortfalls

By Caleb Tobin 

The Promoting a Sustainable Easton (PASE) committee is recommending a $7.3 million operational override and $800k in cuts to address the town’s budget shortfall next year. 

PASE gave their recommendation to the Select Board at the March 24 meeting.  The committee has spent the past year holding community events and examining the town’s fiscal challenges.  

PASE committee chair Tom Brussard outlined what the committee was charged with and some of the challenges that led to the current fiscal crisis. 

“Our committee charge was to do what we believe was the right solution on the mathematical equation for a sustainable Easton. Whether or not that is or what isn’t that the residents desire or want, or what we thought might be palatable for a vote, that is not what we are here for, it was not our charge. Our charge was to be truthful and forthright on the gravity of the situation that we face and the key drivers of it,” Brussard said. 

Some of the challenges mentioned include one-third of Easton’s land being non-taxable or minimally taxable, state aid not keeping up with inflation, and COVID-related relief programs ending.  

Photo Credit: PASE

Easton is also facing budget challenges due to large increases in healthcare costs, insurance, and pension assessments. These fixed costs have increased by $3.6 million over the past two years. 

Brussard said that should the override pass, the average home in Easton would see a tax increase of approximately $800. He acknowledged that this increase would place a burden on many residents and that there are some community members who would be unable to afford the increase.  

The town previously passed a debt exclusion to construct new facilities for the police, fire, and public works departments. That debt exclusion, passed in 2023, added $700 per year to tax bills for the average single-family home.  

As part of their recommendation of an override, PASE is asking the town to adopt a community compact consisting of six objectives: 

• No debt exclusion for five years, and no operational override for at least four years 

• Enhance the Economic Development Committee and maximize new growth 

• Minimize impacts on seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities 

• Institute annual budget growth caps starting in FY27 

• Protect financial reserves and limit use of free cash for operating expenses 

• Implement an annual measurement of compact progress; have town and school departments outline how their proposed budgets would advance, meet, or fall short of the compact’s goals. 

“The idea is that this override helps us in the immediate future, while simultaneously with that, these new growth opportunities are really aggressively and appropriately explored,” said PASE committee Vice Chair Nancy Donahue. 

Brussard said the policies proposed in the compact are part of structural reform to address underlying fiscal issues for the town.  

“People think that the override will just be the solution. It won’t. It will buy you the runway to continue to work hard, but you have to focus on structural policy changes. You have to change posture, you have to invite industrial park growth,” he said. 

The Select Board voted 4-0-1 to adopt the compact. PASE also asked for the finance committee and school committee to adopt the compact.

After the PASE presentation, Select Board members said they largely agreed with the committee’s findings and thanked the members for their work. 

“I think the work you’ve done puts us in a very good position to be able to say, ‘these are the alternatives,’” said Select Board Vice Chair Craig Barger.  

Citizens also asked questions during the meeting. One citizen attending via Zoom asked why the requested override is for $7 million if the budget deficit is only $2 million. 

“The deficit has been reduced to $2.2 million through substantial cuts to town staff and through the application of one-time reserve money,” said Town Administrator Connor Read. “The first issue of the budget for FY26 had a preliminary deficit of $6.36 million. That already included the application of $1.1 million in reserves, so the real shortfall out of the gate, and this is public, is about $7.5 million.” 

Read and Brussard said that as May approaches, the budget will be balanced and have an on-paper deficit of zero, but that the budget will contain millions of dollars in cuts to services unless an override is approved. 

Another citizen asked, “if we knew this was coming, why did we invest in building projects, and why not instead have a series of smaller overrides instead of a larger tax bill?” 

Select Board Chair Dottie Fulginiti responded by saying that smaller overrides have been proposed in the past and failed, and that part of what's driving the deficit is an unexpected increase in expenses that the town has little control over. 

Town officials encouraged citizens to visit the PASE website to learn more about the committee's work and recommendations. The meetings can also be viewed on Easton Community Access Television's YouTube channel.