SOUTHAMPTON, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - Towns across western Massachusetts have been heading to the polls in recent weeks, facing tough decisions over budget overrides as communities struggle to keep up with rising costs. The latest town to join that list is Southampton, where voters turned out in record numbers on Tuesday, May 19th, and narrowly passed a $1.9 million override,

169 votes; the amount of votes that passed a $1.9 million override in Southampton. It was a record turnout of over 2,000 residents who had two override options, with another at $2.5 million. Southampton Town Administrator Scott Szczebak said it will keep public services like the public library in its current condition, much to the relief of the staff.

“The success of the $1.9 million override is astounding for us. It’s not level services, we’re really only losing a little bit, which compared to what would have been the base budget, which was with an enormous amount of cuts, we would not have been the same library,” said Andrea LeClair, the Director of the Southampton Public Library

The results of the vote are also being felt at the Norris School, who have been at the mercy of significant cuts to their staff and resources over the last couple of years. But now, they’ll be getting some of those losses back.

“We had cuts last year, a significant amount of cuts, over $500,000 worth of cuts. So, this is bringing back some of those things, but not all of them. So, it’s a step in the right direction for sure,” said Pluta Aliza, the Principal of William E. Norris Elementary School. Aliza anticipates being able to now reduce class sizes by bringing back math and reading intervention, kindergarten, and art teachers.

Southampton is just one of many towns facing sizeable deficits, and turning to overrides, which Szczebak said will continue until Beacon Hill acts, “I do think it’ll be a wake-up call to Beacon Hill for the governor, the state senate, and the state legislature to kind of say that. You know, cities and towns need more funding. We can’t function, and we can’t go forward with the amount that we’re getting from the state right now.”

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