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Basic info about voting is provided below. If you have questions, reach out to the Holden Town Clerk.
✓ Vote in person
✓ Vote in person
Precints 1 & 2 - Senior Center
Precints 3 & 6 - Davis Hill School
Precints 4 & 5 - Mountview School
✓ Vote early
✓ Vote early
Go to the Clerk's Office in Town Hall
Get an absentee ballot, fill it out, and return it immediately
OR take it home and return before 5PM on Friday, May 8th
✓ Vote by mail
✓ Vote by mail
Request ballot from Town Clerk before Monday, May 4th.
Return before 5PM on Friday, May 8th
The Town of Holden seeks voter approval for a $5.5 million override.
The Town of Holden seeks voter approval for a $5.5 million override.
No one wants to pay more taxes. But Holden is facing severe cuts if the override fails. This situation has been worsening over the past 5+ years. With sky high inflation in recent years and state funding to towns and schools districts not keeping up, we have no choice but to pursue an override to protect the services that we rely on every day - things like our Library, our Senior Center, and our Emergency Responders.
For several years, we have been using our savings to delay an override. This year, the draft FY27 budget already relies on about $2 million in savings to reduce the amount of the override and avoid deeper cuts. This approach cannot continue, because the Town is running out of savings. Using savings can delay the problem, but it cannot solve it.
The Holden Finance Committee did not arrive at its recommendation lightly. The graphic below depicts the robust process they followed to examine all proposed spending before recommending an override to the Board of Selectmen.
The Board of Selectmen voted to put a $5.5 million override on the ballot.
➜ Initial Budget
➜ Initial Budget
Lean Proposal (2/15/26):
Lean Proposal (2/15/26):
$3.1M capital removed
$1.3M personnel cuts
$200K misc. cuts
➜ Line-by-line Review
➜ Line-by-line Review
13 public meetings with:
13 public meetings with:
Town Manager
Department Heads
Superintendents
➜ Final Adjustments
➜ Final Adjustments
Revised (4/1/26):
Revised (4/1/26):
Added $308K revenue
Absorbed $416K school costs
Cut $320K municipal capital and operating
➜ Proposed Budget with Existing Revenue
➜ Proposed Budget with Existing Revenue
What does this mean for me? How much will it cost?
What does this mean for me? How much will it cost?
The proposed override would increase property taxes on the average Holden home by $753 per year. That works out to about:
$63 per month
or a little over $2 per day
The Town has created a Override Tax Impact Calculator so you can figure out your exact tax impact based on your address:
https://www.holdenma.gov/home/news/2026-override-tax-impact-calculator
Each voter will decide whether that cost is worth preserving the services Holden depends on. The question is whether the alternative — major reductions in Library hours, senior services, public safety staffing, and delayed infrastructure repairs — is a better choice for the Town.
Can the Worcester sewer settlement funds be used to avoid an override?
Can the Worcester sewer settlement funds be used to avoid an override?
Unfortunately, NO.
The money from the sewer settlement belongs only to water/sewer ratepayers, not to general taxpayers. Not every taxpayer in Holden has public water or sewer — some have wells or septic systems instead. Those who do have Town water/sewer pay for these services through water/sewer rates. Taxpayers are not the same as ratepayers.
Holden is exploring how to use the settlement money but there is currently no viable legal path for using it to offset property taxes or reduce the override amount.
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