Select Board delays override vote until July 28

Select Board · Meeting of July 22, 2026

READING — The Reading Select Board postponed a vote on a Proposition 2½ override ballot question, splitting over whether to offer one figure or a tiered menu. Town Manager Jayne Wellman said the structural deficit is $6.475 million in fiscal 2027, rising to $9.8 million in fiscal 2028, and warned that without an override roughly 67 municipal and school positions would be eliminated. Finance Committee Chair Mary Ann Downing said her committee recommends giving voters a choice between $7 million and $9.8 million, while Wellman favored a single $6.5 million figure.

Select Board member Melissa Murphy said residents "cannot absorb these increases," estimating an $800 average tax impact at $6.5 million, while members Karen Gately Herrick and Christopher Haley pushed for a tiered ballot instead. The board voted 5-0 to adjourn without deciding, agreeing to reconvene July 28 ahead of an August 5 state filing deadline.

In the full story:

• Roll Call and Meeting Setup
• Finance Committee's Tiered Recommendation
• Town Manager's Override Briefing: The Deficit and the Cuts
• Phased Implementation and Reserve Policy
• The School Department's $917,000 Question
• Public Comment: Strategy, Clarity, and the "Fat" Question
• Procedural Crunch and the Decision to Wait
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 2,377 words

Source: the Select Board meeting of July 22, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript. It was corrected where it differed.