West Tisbury residents gave the initial green light for a $3.4 million override and a $2 million debt exclusion at the annual town meeting Tuesday, while also approving multiple measures for affordable housing.
The 267 residents in attendance voted to approve the $31.6 million budget, including a nearly $3.5 million override that encompasses rising school assessments, funding for PFAS testing, and other expenses such as personnel and employee benefits. The override is necessary to help meet the pressures of sharp inflation in recent years, as well as the growing town’s needs for services, said town accountant Chelsea Joiner.
“Our community has grown, particularly since Covid, and with that growth comes increased demand,” Ms. Joiner said at the beginning of the meeting. “While we’re not having new programs, we do need to make sure that we have the capacity to support what already exists.”
If the override is approved again at town election on Thursday, property taxes for a $1.5 million home would increase by $1,161, according to Ms. Joiner. The same property with the 30 per cent residential tax exemption applied would see an increase of $705.
Voters also gave the initial approval for a $2 million debt exclusion to replace the HVAC system at the West Tisbury police department. The price tag is an estimate based on the West Tisbury Library’s recent HVAC replacement.
The HVAC system is broken, said town administrator Jen Rand, forcing police officers to rely on space heaters and window AC units throughout the year. Residents proposed amendments to ensure the new system is efficient and long-lasting, but the article was eventually approved as written.
Town officials said they were pleased with the outcome of the evening, and called it a “success.”
Voters approved multiple articles addressing affordable housing through a variety of methods, including funding for Lease to Locals and the Island Housing Trust’s development at 40 and 48 Old Courthouse Road. Funding for Lease to Locals was reduced on the floor from $250,000 to $150,000.
Residents approved zoning bylaw changes reducing the minimum size of potential homesite lots and extending demolition delays to facilitate house moves as alternatives to new construction.
Residents expressed concern over a zoning bylaw that would impose a moratorium on permits for service businesses in the rural (RU) district, and eventually voted to table the bylaw. The moratorium, residents said, would prevent young, working individuals from making a living in West Tisbury.
Tara Gayle, a landscape designer in West Tisbury, was one of multiple residents who opposed the bylaw.
“I’m somebody who saw an opportunity to have a roof over my head by buying an existing [service] business,” she said. “Having [service] businesses absolutely gives younger professionals and people who are trying to build a life here an opportunity to live on this Island that is becoming increasingly hard to live on.”
Residents also voted to table a bylaw change that would have added regulations for sound attenuation measures for sports courts. The article also proposed adding language to include all sports beyond tennis, including pickleball.
In the lengthiest discussion of the evening, residents expressed concerns that the bylaw would not adequately suppress the loud, popping sounds of pickleball. The sport has been contentious in Chilmark and across the country for its noisy character, and West Tisbury residents called it “intolerable.”
After a series of amendments that failed to address voters’ concerns over pickleball’s place in the bylaw, residents voted to table the measure.
“We’ve been asked to edit articles, and that’s not the purpose of a town meeting, to make amendments,” said one resident. “I’d like to suggest that going forward, including with this article, the planning board and [zoning board of appeals] collaborate and present something that’s clear and concise for us to be able to vote on.”
Voters also approved an article that would fund a rapid food waste recycler at the West Tisbury Local Drop-Off. Oak Bluffs, Aquinnah and Chilmark face similar articles that would facilitate town-specific composting efforts, after the only food-waste program at Island Grown Initiative ended in 2024.
Residents okayed an educational needs study at the West Tisbury School to evaluate space requirements for various educational programs, which would cost West Tisbury $64,000. Last year, residents struck down a similar article asking for $700,000 for a feasibility study of the West Tisbury School, citing the large price tag.
The educational needs study would “compliment” an energy efficiency study the school conducted in 2022, all ahead of eventual improvements to the building, MVYPS business administrator Mark Friedman told the Vineyard Gazette ahead of town meeting.
The meeting opened with a poem from West Tisbury poet laureate Adriana Stimola, and a moment of silence for townsfolk who died in the last year.
Residents will officially decide on the override and debt exclusion Thursday at the annual town election, as well as vote on elected officials. Polls will be open at the West Tisbury public safety office from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.
This article appears in April 17, 2026.