Oakham Select Board Flags Up to $470,000 Budget Gap Ahead of Town Meeting

OAKHAM — March 26, 2025 — Oakham Select Board confronts a projected budget gap of up to $470,000 heading into its fiscal year 2026 annual town meeting. Working through departmental budgets line by line at a March 26 special meeting, the board found that school assessments alone rose approximately $175,000 — the Quabbin Regional School District requesting $2,790,789, up $115,411, and Pathfinder Regional Vocational Technical School seeking $256,500, up roughly $60,000 — while the town's certified free cash balance of $180,501 was nearly entirely spent to close the FY26 gap, leaving roughly $2,500 in reserve. A board member disclosed that Oakham has not levied the full 2.5 percent annual tax increase allowed under Proposition 2½ in at least six years, resulting in an estimated $333,000 in cumulative foregone revenue. "Had we done what we're supposed to do and go to the two and a half percent, we wouldn't be having this conversation," one member said. A Finance Committee member in attendance noted that for a home assessed at $350,000, one override scenario would cost roughly $89 per year, and the board indicated a Proposition 2½ override may be unavoidable, with 234 Massachusetts communities reported to be in similar fiscal positions.