EASTHAMPTON, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - Easthampton leaders announced on Thursday that residents will be voting on a $6.9 million budget override, as the city navigates a defect of $6.4 million, in the coming fiscal year 2027.

At a press conference this evening, Mayor Salem Derby explained how the city landed in this position pointing to two main factors, he said, were out of the city’s control.

The first, a significant increase is special education and student transportation costs. Second, employee benefits and post-employment obligations.

“Students who require out-of-district placements. Students with legal rights to those services, which we are both legally and morally obligated to meet, drove nearly a 10% cost increase in a single year. Employee benefits, health insurance, retirement contributions, and post-employment obligations are growing at more than 6% a year,” Mayor Derby said.

Derby said the budget task force determined the city needs $8 million to close the budget gap and provide two years of stability. But, the $6.9 million was the agreed-upon number, because more than a million dollars will decidedly be cut from city hall.

Derby also laid out how this proposed override would look for the average homeowner’s tax bill.