Sunderland Boards Set Framework for Tiered Override, Face Friday Deadline

WHATELY — March 24, 2026 — Sunderland's Select Board and Finance Committee spent nearly two hours Tuesday building a tiered Proposition 2½ override framework to address a budget gap revised during the meeting to $822,686. The boards tentatively settled on two override ballot questions — a first tier of roughly 8 to 9 percent and a second tier near 12.5 percent — with each percentage point of override raising approximately $70,000 and the town planning to apply roughly $200,000 in free cash against the gap. South County EMS assessments to Sunderland rise to $315,527, up $63,000 from last year, driven by the end of retained-earnings budgeting. The South County Senior Center's proposed move to a new building, costing Sunderland roughly $54,000 more annually — about $37 per year for the owner of a $450,000 home — would appear only in the second-tier override budget. A cost-of-living framework of 0 percent, 1.5 percent, and 3 percent tied to override outcomes was agreed to for non-union employees, with elected officials receiving no increase under any scenario. All override amounts must be certified by Friday, March 27.