Hampden Sets May 11 Town Meeting, Warns Override May Be Needed in Following Year

HAMPDEN -- April 21, 2026, Hampden Advisory Committee warns override may be unavoidable within one budget cycle as town heads to May 11 town meeting. Advisory Committee Co-Chair Doug Boyd told a combined Selectboard and Advisory Committee public hearing April 21 that Hampden has approximately $974,000 in total taxing capacity without a Proposition 2.5 override, against FY2027 budget increase requests of roughly $819,976, a gap that would exhaust the town's $424,335 excess levy capacity cushion and leave next year with only the base 2.5 percent increase. The Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District assessment of $9,424,428 represents the single largest line item, and school superintendent John told the hearing the district has already cut $2.9 million and 10 positions from its level-services budget, with 19 additional layoff notices issued if the budget comes in lower. A kindergarten teacher in attendance said she had received one of those pink slips, raising the possibility Green Meadows School's two kindergarten sections could collapse to one. The Selectboard separately voted unanimously to award FY2027 fuel contracts to Dennis K. Burke through the Lower Pioneer Valley cooperative and to authorize a request for qualifications for new town counsel. The 20-article warrant also includes a proposal to repeal Hampden's Community Preservation Act surcharge, the town currently holds $664,000 in that account and receives a state match of approximately 15 to 16 percent, down from 100 percent when the program launched in 2001.