Coffee with a Purpose, a public group that meets on most Monday mornings in person and online to discuss topics of interest to the Natick community, this week listened to presentations about the potential $8M override and asked questions of town officials and supporters. Natick appears to be heading toward a March 25 vote on the proposed override.
Town Administrator Jamie Errickson presented the latest on Natick’s effort to better sync its revenue and expenses through an override, and supporters from Vote for Natick’s Future shared their views on why residents should back the override, which will boost property taxes though protect the town and schools from what they describe as “harmful cuts.” Vote for Natick’s Future reps described what results residents could see from voting “no” on an override, such as larger class sizes and deteriorating town buildings.
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Town and Natick Public School officials have been providing regular updates on their budget plans, which are intertwined with the override proposal.
You can watch a recording of the meeting on Youtube.
Among the topics raised by attendees were how the town and school system went about identifying what would get cut under a no override scenario.
One attendee asked whether the town had considered bringing in consultants to get some fresh eyes on how the town and schools are operating. Errickson said the town in recent years has put resources into departmental budgets, particularly on the finance side, to “look at our processes and see how we can be more efficient.” He noted that the finance team hasn’t grown despite facing a larger workload given increased population and revenue, and that the same goes for Community & Economic Development, which has been handling more and more permits. Errickson added that he’s had a lot of new department heads over the past several years, so that has naturally resulted in new people taking a fresh look at town operations and has led to some staff reductions where more could be done with less.
Cody Jacobs from Vote for Natick’s Future chimed in about how the school system has been able to bring in some consultants through grants, such as for reviewing school security.
The town also undergoes bond rating reviews that turn over many stones, said Select Board member Bruce Evans. What’s more, the Select Board appoints an audit advisory committee that has hired a new auditor.
Regardless of whether consultants could be brought in to take a broader look at town operations, that’s not going to happen before Natick will need to make a decision about an override.
Another point raised during discussion was made by Paul Joseph, the former Select Board member, about the need for Natick to boost economic development to generate revenue other than through property tax increases. Joseph, who serves on the town’s Economic Development Committee and supports the proposed override and the town’s management team, said the Community & Economic Development Department is fully staffed but still understaffed.
“One of the things we keep telling the community, and I’ve tried at Town Meeting, is that we need to invest in economic development. The non-residential taxpayer source of revenue for us is a thriving business community.” He said the town has been prudent in light of hiring and other challenges, but also “penny-wise and pound foolish not throwing the throttle forward on the revenue side of things.”
If interested in getting on the Coffee with a Purpose mailing list, reach out to Doug Hanna.
Don’t buy the bunk that people aren’t up on the potential override because print newspapers have faded. More coverage:
- Natick budget reveal party: Town & school administrations dive into FY26 details (Feb. 4)
- Natick town & school officials field override questions at public forum (Jan. 23)
- In Natick, it’s starting to be all override, all the time (Jan. 17)
- Natick shows property tax impact of a possible $8M override (Dec. 16)
- Natick Select Board hears latest on possible override (Nov. 1)
- Natick issues bluntest warning yet about probable override (Oct. 25)
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Vote no! The taxes are too darn high and families are struggling to make ends meet. The town can tighten its belt the same as households. Even if you can afford higher taxes consider your many neighbors who can’t.