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.