Lakeville Boards Hear Budget Ultimatum: Override or Deep Cuts Across Departments

Select Board · Meeting of April 28, 2026

Lakeville's Select Board and Finance Committee heard stark budget-or-cut choices from four departments as the town's three-year override vote approaches. Freetown-Lakeville Regional School District Superintendent Barbara Starkey and Finance Director John Higgins presented a recommended general fund budget of $49,542,654, a $3,454,915 increase, with Lakeville's share up $1,825,353, or 10.27 percent, driven partly by the expiration of $660,000 in one-time E&D funds used for salaries in the prior year and a drawdown of school-choice fund balance. A school-by-school presentation outlined the loss of 56 district positions if level-service funding is not approved, including library closures at every elementary school and the elimination of world language, STEM, and dropout-prevention programming.

Old Colony Regional Technical High School Superintendent Polanski reported a 4.8 percent overall FY27 budget increase and said a pending $2 million equipment grant, if awarded, would reduce member-town assessments. Police Chief Perkins said a failed override would eliminate active-shooter training mandates and cut roughly $80,000 from the department, and Fire Chief O'Brien warned that losing 18 call firefighter positions under a budget-1B scenario would force heavy reliance on mutual aid at major incidents, threatening the department's current 6.5-minute average medical response time. Finance Committee member Minkowski challenged the school committee's prior use of one-time funds for salaries, calling it a structural error; Town Administrator Andrew said he was "very confident" the three-year override would forestall any further override request.

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Source: the Select Board meeting of April 28, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.