Hadley Finance Committee Approves Department Liaisons, Reviews FY26 Budget Gap

HADLEY -- March 12, 2025, Hadley Finance Committee assigns department liaisons and confronts a nearly $500,000 structural budget gap heading into Town Meeting. The committee unanimously approved liaison assignments pairing each of its five members with interested town departments, including DPW, Public Safety, the Library, the Board of Health, and Hadley Media, and named Chair Amy Feiden as its representative on the newly formed Town Administrator Selection Committee, with Paul Benjamin as alternate; the search is being managed by Paradigm, a Western Massachusetts executive-placement firm with roughly 15 applicants under review. Finance Director Feiden told the committee that FY26 department budgets grew $1.3 million against only $825,000 in new revenue, with an additional $1.155 million in red-flagged unfunded departmental requests bringing total unmet demand to roughly $2.2 million; the gap was closed through free cash, a $190,000 OPEB contribution redirect, a stabilization fund draw for the ambulance, and $95,000 in opioid settlement funds. On a brighter note, Feiden reported the town's OPEB trust has reached $2.8 million, 25 percent of total outstanding liability, placing Hadley at the 75th percentile among Massachusetts municipalities.