WHITMAN — August 25, 2026 — Facing an initial projected fiscal year 2028 deficit of nearly $1 million—which could double to roughly $2 million if capital costs are absorbed within the operating levy—the Whitman Select Board voted Tuesday to schedule a Special Town Meeting on January 25, 2027, and a Special Town Election on January 30, 2027, to place a South Shore Vocational Technical High School debt exclusion before voters.
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Outgoing Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter delivered a stark preliminary fiscal year 2028 budget overview, projecting a starting baseline deficit of $996,355. Carter cautioned board members that the projection already assumes extremely conservative revenue assumptions, a modest $310,000 in estimated new growth, and a 10% placeholder increase in municipal health insurance premiums.
The deficit projection hinges significantly on the outcome of the town’s borrowing share for the South Shore Technical High School regional building project. Carter noted that her draft budget treats Whitman’s projected $1.098 million South Shore Tech debt share as an excluded debt. Should voters reject a ballot question to exempt those debt payments from the constraints of Proposition 2½, the town’s operating deficit would double to nearly $2.1 million, requiring severe across-the-board municipal cuts.
“The debt that will be incurred for the new South Shore Vo-Tech without a debt exclusion, it will have a significant, detrimental effect on the budget for fiscal ‘28 and future years if we do not pass the debt exclusion.” [01:44:48] — Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter
Earlier in the evening, South Shore Tech Superintendent Tom Hickey presented the board with updated borrowing and payback models for the regional school project. Hickey shared positive early financial news, noting that with 75% of construction bids locked in, overall bids are running approximately $13 million below initial project estimates. Hickey laid out two primary payback strategies under consideration by the Regional District School Committee: level debt service payments (similar to a standard fixed mortgage) or equal principal payments (which require higher upfront payments but save roughly $27 million in aggregate district interest over 30 years).
Select Board members expressed a preference for a level debt structure to protect Whitman taxpayers from heavy upfront spikes, differing from their typical municipal borrowing approach, while emphasizing that recent regional agreement changes secured by the town’s finance leaders now utilize a rolling four-year enrollment average rather than a share locked at the time of the debt. Following Hickey’s presentation, the board voted unanimously to set the Special Town Meeting for Monday, January 25, 2027, and the Special Town Election for Saturday, January 30, 2027.
