Chilmark will hold a special town meeting on Monday, June 29, to make existing funds available to balance the town’s budget ahead of the new fiscal year.
Town officials voted in May to scheduled the meeting in order to avoid a potential deficit caused by legal fees and snow removal costs.
“In order to make sure we can close our books in the green, we’re asking to transfer money from an undesignated fund,” said town administrator Tim Carroll. “Its entirely possible that we’ll be all set. But I don’t want to roll the dice on the town’s finances.”
The meeting’s single warrant article asks to transfer $100,000 from free cash and an unused $100,000 from a previous annual town meeting warrant article into the town’s 2025 reserve fund, where the town can access it to balance the budget.
The town is not asking to raise any new money; these had already all been approved by voters.
Because of the timing of billing and invoices, it’s not clear if those funds will be necessary, said Mr. Carroll. As a precaution, the town also asked its departments to trim down their remaining expenditures, once it was clear a deficit was possible.
The town accumulated $150,000 this year in unanticipated legal bills, separate from general counsel’s services, for an active lawsuit. A Menemsha homeowner sued the Chilmark board of health for denying them a permit that would have allowed them to construct a septic system for a proposed three-bedroom home. The property, 0 Chockers Lane, is in the coastal district of Menemsha Pond.
Mr. Carroll declined to comment on the pending lawsuit.
The town also spent $62,000 more than budgeted on snow and ice expenses this year, and an additional $10,000 on tree removal at the cemetery following this winter’s large storms.
The special town meeting will take place at Chilmark Community Center Monday at 7 p.m. At least 25 people need to attend the special town meeting to have a quorum.
This article appears in June 26, 2026.