Hubbardston Town Meeting Approves $4.9 Million Municipal Budget With 15 Votes Against

HUBBARDSTON — June 1, 2026 — Hubbardston Annual Town Meeting approves $12.3 million in school and municipal budgets amid transparency complaints. Some 120 registered voters gathered June 1 at Hubbardston Center School and passed a fiscal year 2027 municipal operating budget of $4,924,083 — with $4,877,612 raised through the tax levy and $46,471 from free cash — on a vote with 15 opposed, after residents complained that no printed copies were available at the meeting. Interim Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald told voters the town entered the year carrying a structural deficit exceeding $300,000 from FY26 and that he had cut more than $200,000 from department requests to produce a zero-based budget of more than 520 line items. Quabbin Regional Superintendent Colleen Mouha disclosed 21 eliminated positions — including six academic teachers and four specialized instruction staff — as the district's $6,895,048 assessment passed with seven opposed. A floor amendment to the zoning bylaw rewrite blocked commercial farm-equipment sales rooms as a by-right use in residential and town center districts, with seven votes against the amended article.