Hadley Finance Committee Eyes Fall Override Vote to Close $900,000 Fire-EMS Gap

HADLEY -- June 18, 2025, Hadley Finance Committee charts path toward fall override vote over $900,000 fire-EMS deficit. The committee met June 18 with all five members present, Chair Angie Kopacki, Shardul Parmar, Michael Benjamin, Stephanie Biden, and Peter Matusko, and spent the bulk of the session dissecting a combined fire and basic life support ambulance budget that finance staff say has run on free cash and stabilization fund draws for three years, at a total cost to the town of roughly $2 million against approximately $90,000 to $100,000 in ambulance revenue collected. Staff identified a combined fire-EMS shortfall of nearly $900,000 for FY27, with all other town departments projecting a manageable $200,000 to $250,000 gap, and warned the town can sustain current operations only through approximately October without an override. The committee agreed to rule out pursuing an advanced life support license in the near term and presented the Select Board, in a joint session immediately following, with three choices: continue the full-time 24-7 department with BLS at roughly $900,000, suspend BLS and fund fire-only coverage at roughly $675,000 to $700,000, or return to pre-2021 part-time staffing. A Special Town Meeting is targeted for September 4, 2025, with a Proposition 2.5 override ballot to follow within 45 days.