Hanson Select Board Places $33 Million Library Question on May Ballot Amid Budget Crunch

HANSON — April 7, 2026 — Hanson Select Board placed four ballot questions totaling more than $41 million on the May 16 annual election and locked down a warrant burdened by a $1.5 million budget shortfall, driven largely by an unusually severe winter. Town Accountant Eric Kinsherf told the board the town's entire $2,245,000 in free cash is needed just to balance the operating budget, leaving nothing for discretionary capital articles; a $600,000 snow and ice deficit requires additional line-item transfers under a process that cannot begin until after May 1. The board placed a $33,041,881 library renovation debt exclusion (Question 4), a $7.5 million highway building debt exclusion (Question 2), a South Shore Voc-Tech school debt exclusion (Question 3), and a $630,000 fire-and-police operating override (Question 1) on the ballot. The board also adopted enforcement regulations for the town's voter-approved nip ban, approved a conditional police hire — Noah Regalado, a Bureau of Criminal Investigations officer with more than 400 hours of crime scene training — and unanimously approved a joint appointment of Michael Valerie to the Planning Board through May 16.