Marshfield Town Meeting Approves Expansion to Five-Member Select Board

Operating Budget Delayed to June

MARSHFIELD - April 27 and 28, 2026 - Marshfield residents charted a new course for local governance this week, overwhelmingly approving a citizen petition to expand the Select Board from three to five members. The decision came during a two-night Town Meeting characterized by fiscal anxiety, as the town’s $119 million operating budget and several critical financial articles were deferred to June 15 due to ongoing delays in finalizing the town’s audits and financial projections. Despite the missing budget, voters moved through nearly 40 articles, including a high-profile rejection of a bid to repeal the town’s MBTA Communities zoning compliance and the approval of over $2.5 million in Community Preservation Act (CPA) projects.

The Full Story

The first night of the meeting opened with a somber admission from Town Moderator Jim Fitzgerald: the town was not ready to vote on its finances. Citing delays in pulling the budgets together, Fitzgerald announced that all financial articles, including the operating budget and potential override votes, would be postponed until mid-June.