Stoneham Select Board Sets June 14 Override Election, Delays Dollar Amount to Friday

STONEHAM — May 6, 2025 — Stoneham Select Board sets June 14 special election for override vote, leaves dollar amount unresolved pending school committee input. The board voted unanimously Tuesday to hold the election from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Town Hall, one day after Annual Town Meeting approved a fiscal year 2026 budget that several members called unsustainable. Town Administrator Dennis Sheehan presented a staff analysis totaling $5,036,084 — restoring cuts to police, fire, DPW, the library, Council on Aging, and conservation, and adding one dispatcher — while board member Ryan Foreman circulated a nearly identical independently assembled figure of roughly $5.155 million, translating to about $49 per month for the average homeowner. School Committee Chair Jamie Wallace of 3 Oak Ridge Road said the committee does not support the June 14 date, warning that no school funding was included in the proposed number, and announced a Thursday meeting to formally deliberate; the Select Board scheduled an 8:30 a.m. Friday session to receive that input and finalize the ballot question. The board also unanimously established a new Stoneham Override Study Committee focused on fiscal year 2027 and 2028 planning, with a written report due October 2025, and canceled two previously scheduled public engagement sessions pending resolution of the ballot language.