Category Archives: Select Board matters

Joint Commitment by SB, SC & WC ahead of Monday Town Meeting

Posted on April 29, 2026 | Comments Off on Joint Commitment by SB, SC & WC ahead of Monday Town Meeting

Attend the Annual Town Meeting (ATM) Monday, May 4 at 7PM at the Medfield High School.

Coordinated Commitments for the Proposed Operating Budget Override
Joint Release by the Select Board, School Committee, and Warrant Committee

TOWN OF MEDFIELD Coordinated Commitments for the Proposed Operating Budget Override Joint Release by the Select Board, School Committee, and Warrant Committee 1 Executive Summary This statement outlines the shared fiscal commitments of Medfield’s Select Board, School Committee, and Warrant Committee in support of a proposed operating budget override and stabilization fund. The override is designed to sustain essential Town and School services for two years through FY2028 under current projections and assumptions, while maintaining disciplined budget growth, protecting reserves, and mitigating taxpayer impact. These commitments establish clear guardrails to ensure responsible stewardship of public funds and transparent reporting to residents.. Shared Fiscal Commitments to Sustain Town and School Operations Through FY2028 Medfield faces a structural fiscal challenge: the Town’s primary revenue source is limited to 2.5% annual growth under Proposition 2½, while major cost drivers—such as contractual obligations, mandated services, health insurance, and inflation—typically grow at a higher rate. As a result, the override is necessary to protect current essential services, not expand them. The Select Board, School Committee, and Warrant Committee jointly affirm the need for an operating budget override and commit to the following high-level principles to ensure disciplined, transparent financial management.. 1. Duration of the Override The override is designed to sustain Town and School operations for two years through FY2028, based on current revenue projections, cost trends, and long-range financial modeling. This two-year horizon reflects conservative assumptions and incorporates known cost drivers. If conditions change materially, we will update the community promptly and transparently. 2. Annual Budget Growth Commitments To ensure the override lasts two years through FY2028, the Town and Schools commit to the following FY 2027 operating budget growth parameters: • Medfield Public Schools: Annual operating budget growth for FY 2027 not to exceed 3.64%. • Municipal (Town) Operations: Annual operating budget growth for FY 2027 not to exceed 3.33%. TOWN OF MEDFIELD Coordinated Commitments for the Proposed Operating Budget Override Joint Release by the Select Board, School Committee, and Warrant Committee 2 For FY2028, the Town and Schools acknowledge that the override structure includes a planned stabilization fund deposit based on the best available forecast today. Actual FY2028 budget development will occur next year based on updated revenues, federal and state aid, contractual obligations, and cost conditions. The Town and Schools remain committed to disciplined, sustainable, and balanced budgeting that preserves the long-standing proportionality between School and Town budgets as we support the two‑year override framework. 3. Fiscal Discipline and Efficiency Measures The Town and Schools will continue to pursue cost control and operational efficiency, including:  Continue reviewing programs, staffing, and service delivery models as part of regular budget planning  Reviewing health insurance plan design in collaboration with employee groups.  Explore shared services and collaborative procurement where appropriate.  Maintaining disciplined hiring practices.  Use benchmarking to inform decision-making, not as a prescriptive requirement.  Avoiding the use of one-time funds for recurring expenses. 4. Revenue Development and Grant Strategy To reduce long term reliance on overrides, the Town will:  Support responsible economic development, including the Trinity redevelopment at the Medfield State Hospital, as a long-term strategy to strengthen the tax base.  Periodically review fees and explore non-tax revenue opportunities.  Pursue aligned state and federal grants.  Regularly review fees and charges. While the Trinity project represents a significant future opportunity, its timing and revenue impact remain dependent on the pace of development. 5. Reserve and Long-Term Liability Management The Town commits to maintaining reserves at 8% of the operating budget (net of debt service) to protect financial stability, maintain the Town’s strong credit rating, and provide a buffer for emergencies. These reserves are not intended to fund recurring operating deficits.TOWN OF MEDFIELD Coordinated Commitments for the Proposed Operating Budget Override Joint Release by the Select Board, School Committee, and Warrant Committee 3 6. Commitment to Taxpayer Impact Mitigation The Town reaffirms its commitment to managing taxpayer impact through the Tax Impact Mitigation Stabilization Fund, with a goal of accumulating $5.0 million to reduce the initial tax impact of the Dale Street School replacement during the early years of borrowing. 7. Transparency and Public Reporting The Town and Schools will provide periodic updates through existing public budget processes.:  Progress toward these commitments.  Actual budget growth versus caps.  Reserve levels.  Efficiency initiatives.  Updated financial projections.  Use of the Tax Impact Mitigation Stabilization Fund. Unified Statement The Select Board, School Committee, and Warrant Committee present these principles as a unified framework to maintain Medfield’s financial stability, protect essential services, and ensure transparent, responsible stewardship of public resources. All three boards support the FY2027 override budget and the two‑year override structure, including the planned FY2028 stabilization fund deposit. Each board recognizes that FY2028 budget development will occur next year using updated information, while maintaining the shared goal of sustaining operations through FY2028 under the override framework.

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Posted in Budgets, Schools, Select Board matters, Warrant Committee

Warrant Committee’s slides on its override recommendation

Posted on March 27, 2026 | 1 comment

Stephen Callahan, Chair of the Warrant Committee, shared the following slides on how the Warrant Committee reached its decision of the override it is supporting. Steve and the Warrant Committee have been working diligently despite difficult parameters. –

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Posted in Financial, Schools, Select Board matters, Town Meeting, Warrant Committee

Office Hours This Friday – 9-10AM

Posted on February 28, 2026 | Comments Off on Office Hours This Friday – 9-10AM

Select Board Office Hours this Friday

I hold regular monthly office hours at The Center on the first Friday of every month from 9:00 to 10:00 AM. 

Residents are welcome to stop by to talk in person about any town matters. 

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Posted in Select Board matters, Uncategorized

Republished on the day of John Harney’s funeral

Posted on December 30, 2025 | Comments Off on Republished on the day of John Harney’s funeral

The Medfield Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award bestowed on John Harney in 2012 is republished here on the day of John’s funeral.  Whereas that award was about John’s civic engagement in Medfield, his funeral was about the man and his family that fortunately shared our hometown since 1965.

John Harney – Lifetime Achievement Award — Medfield civic and community leadership

John Harney is a 47-year resident of Medfield, and was nominated for the Lifetime Achievement award by Medfield resident and retired Medfield High School teacher Richard DeSorgher, who described Harney as “a shining example of the role of a citizen in society. Democracy is not a spectator sport, and without the John Harneys of this world, our government could not exist.”

Harney’s role as a Medfield civic leader began in 1978 as an elected member of the School Committee. From there, Harney served as a Medfield Selectman, joined a number of committees and boards involved with the Medfield State Hospital site, was a 14-year member of the town’s Economic Development Committee, and involved in Collective Bargaining Teams and the Solid Waste Committee.

DeSorgher noted that as selectman, Harney led the drive to save the Dwight-Derby House, and he also fought for the preservation of open space in Medfield.

“John led the drive at Town Meeting to purchase several parcels of land here in Medfield, including the Wheelock property, the Plain Street/Community Gardens land, and the Cronin/Wight Street property. He also fought hard to obtain the Route 27/Plain Street open space that was defeated at Town Meeting,” said DeSorgher.

DeSorgher noted, “Whether in my classroom, the newspapers, in the community, or at public meetings,  John Harney can be seen making democracy work. John speaks out on issues, popular or not, because he believes his cause is right and just. The result of John’s volunteer and civic service is a better town of Medfield for all of our almost 13,000 residents.”

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Posted in Medfield Foundation, People, Schools, Select Board matters, Volunteers

MMA Suggests Solutions to Declining State Aid

Posted on December 11, 2025 | Comments Off on MMA Suggests Solutions to Declining State Aid

GET THE FULL ARTICLE VIA THE LINK BELOW:

Navigating the Storm: Charting a Course Toward Fiscal Stability

State aid – Unrestricted General Government Aid, or UGGA – to Medfield has declined for decades, and today is at less than half the level of our real estate property tax revenue that it was in 2007. The declining state aid has increasingly moved municipal services from being funded by the state income tax to the local property tax.

Thanks to Steve Callahan, Chair of the Warrant Committee for circulating the link to the Massachusetts Municipal Association piece that Assistant Town Administrator, Brittney Franklin shared with him.

Thanks too to the Massachusetts Municipal Association for focusing on this issue of inadequate and declining state funding.

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Posted in Budgets, Financial, Legislature, Select Board matters, Warrant Committee

Town’s Buildings Require $100m in Repairs in Next 5 years

Posted on December 11, 2025 | 1 comment

 https://town.medfield.net/DocumentCenter/View/9333/Medfield_CapitalPlan_DecarbonizationStudy-1

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Posted in Budgets, Buildings, Financial, Select Board matters, Town Meeting, Town Services, Warrant Committee

Black Out at Budget Workshop

Posted on December 3, 2025 | 2 comments

MEDFIELD POLICE DEPARTMENT photo –

The Warrant Committee’s joint budget workshop with the Select Board and School Committee last night was ended by this tree on the wires along Main Street that turned off the electricity to the Medfield High School library, putting the meeting into darkness – the MHS’s emergency generator failed to come on. The meeting proceeded in the dimness for a short time illuminated only by the light from the computer screens and cell phones, and apparently was still being broadcast on backup power.

The workshop discussion will be re-scheduled and the discussions will continue.

Issue = only an additional 1.2% budget monies are available for spending increases for FY27, so even level funding is not possible. Plus large capital expenses required:

  1. $120 m. required to repair town buildings over the next 20 years.
  2. $100 m. required in next 5 years for priority building repairs – roofs and building envelopes.
  3. Dale Street School must be replaced.

Overrides seem needed, unless residents want fewer services.

Thank you to the Warrant Committee for starting the discussion!

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Posted in Budgets, Financial, Medfield High School, Police Department, Schools, Select Board matters, Warrant Committee

Select Board Office Hours Postponed a Week to 9/12

Posted on September 1, 2025 | Comments Off on Select Board Office Hours Postponed a Week to 9/12

MY TRIAL POSTPONES SEPTEMBER OFFICE HOURS TO 9/12

No Select Board Office Hours this Friday due to my starting a trial tomorrow in the Hampshire Superior Court. I will instead hold the office hours on Friday, 9/12.

Residents are welcome to stop by to talk in person about any town matters. Residents can also have coffee and see the Council on Aging in action (a vibrant organization with lots going on).

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Posted in Select Board matters

Anti-Idling Campaign’s 10th Anniversary

Posted on August 26, 2025 | Comments Off on Anti-Idling Campaign’s 10th Anniversary

From Fritz Fleischmann of the Green Sanctuary Committee at First Parish –

Dear Members of the Select Board,

This is Fritz Fleischmann, a resident of Medfield. I am writing to ask for the Select Board’s continuing support of an initiative the Board endorsed unanimously in 2015.

Ten years ago, the Green Sanctuary Committee at First Parish started a campaign to educate Medfield residents about the State’s anti-idling statute and to encourage them to stop unnecessary idling of their cars. This campaign was co-sponsored by the Medfield Police Department, the School Committee, the Board of Health, as well as civic organizations, and it was endorsed by the (then) Board of Selectmen, who authorized the installation of anti-idling signs in front of public buildings – you will have seen some of these around town.

Today, while the Commonwealth experiences an increase in childhood asthma and the climate crisis has worsened, there is ample evidence that most citizens are still unaware of the statute and the many reasons for it. However, environmental consciousness has also increased: the network of Sustainable Medfield currently includes over two dozen affiliated organizations and groups. And it is with the support of Sustainable Medfield that we are now resurrecting our original campaign, further supported by the Police Department and the Board of Health. Our shared goal is not to penalize but to educate the public.

Importantly, this time around we are working in partnership with the schools. Experience in other towns shows that young people can have significant influence over their parents – persuading them to stop idling, for instance, while waiting in line to pick them up. Our initiative can also provide learning opportunities for students, generate project ideas, and strengthen community. With the beginning of the new school year, Superintendent Dr. Marsden and the principals will inform parents about the Massachusetts statute and ask them not to idle their engines outside a school building. Sustainable Medfield has chosen this anti-idling initiative as the “Action of the Quarter” for the fall.

In 2015, we created a flyer for distribution around town (see attached), and we are currently updating it for today’s use. As part of this effort, we are asking everyone who endorsed us ten years ago to affirm their endorsement for this renewed initiative. With this letter we ask you, the members of the Select Board, to give us your formal endorsement again.

Thank for your attention, and for all your hard work in service to the residents of Medfield.

Fritz Fleischmann

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Posted in Climate, Green, health, Schools, Select Board matters, Uncategorized

Office Hours this Friday

Posted on June 2, 2025 | 5 comments

Select Board Office Hours this Friday

I hold regular monthly office hours at The Center on the first Friday of every month from 9:00 to 10:00 AM. 

Residents are welcome to stop by to talk in person about any town matters. 

5 Comments

Posted in Select Board matters, Uncategorized