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This story has been updated to reflect new information.
The Marblehead Liberty Foundation says it has begun collecting signatures for a special town meeting that would offer voters an alternative to Marblehead’s three-tier override plan.
In a news release issued April 30, the group said it is gathering signatures for what it calls a “People’s Special Town Meeting” so residents can weigh in again on how the town addresses its budget gap.
The foundation’s petition centers on restoring services it says residents value but that were cut in the proposed budget. Its articles call for keeping Abbot Public Library operating and restoring Council on Aging funding without an override, while also proposing a narrower trash override to cover what the group describes as the approximately $1.5 million increase in the trash contract. The release also calls for an outside municipal-efficiency consultant and argues that a special town meeting would let voters fund specific priorities rather than adopt the town’s broader override package.
Under state law, the Select Board must schedule a special town meeting within 45 days if at least 200 registered voters sign the petition.
The foundation’s petition challenges a three-tier override plan the Select Board advanced in late March. Under that plan, voters would see three options on the June 9 ballot, each building on the one below it: Tier 1, “Partial Restore,” at $9 million; Tier 2, “Stabilize & Build,” at $12 million; and Tier 3, “Invest & Improve,” at $15 million, all spread across three years.
Voters would weigh in on each tier separately, town officials said, and the highest tier to win majority support would be the one that takes effect. The town estimates the three-year tax impact on the median single-family home, assessed at $998,550, at roughly $900 under Tier 1, $1,200 under Tier 2 and $1,500 under Tier 3. Town Meeting, which must first authorize the override questions before they can reach voters, opens at 7 p.m. May 4.
The override proposal is also tied to a memorandum of understanding between the Marblehead Select Board and School Committee that outlines how new revenue would be shared and managed over time. The agreement sets a 62/38 percent split between schools and town services, includes a commitment to avoid seeking another general operating override through at least fiscal 2030 and calls for quarterly financial reporting. Officials have emphasized that the memorandum is a policy framework rather than a binding appropriation; any future spending tied to the override would still require annual Town Meeting approval.
The effort comes as Marblehead faces a roughly $7.7 million fiscal 2027 budget gap inside a total budget of about $122.7 million. The town’s budget shows recurring revenues are not keeping pace with recurring costs, including health insurance, pensions, debt service and contractual obligations.
Health insurance accounts for about $15.8 million, or 12.9 percent of the total budget, and debt service totals about $11.1 million, or 9 percent, according to the materials. Pension costs are also rising annually.
The foundation’s release calls for an override to cover an approximately $1.5 million increase in the trash contract. The town has a separate $2.3 million override question, distinct from the tiered override, to fund curbside service through the tax levy rather than a household fee.
State records list the Marblehead Liberty Foundation as an unincorporated association registered with the Massachusetts Attorney General Office, with bylaws and a written statement of purpose on file. The database lists no annual filings, but the state notes that missing filings in its search system do not necessarily mean a charity is delinquent. Marblehead resident Jack Buba, one of the members of the Marblehead Liberty Foundation, is the registered point of contact for the Foundation with the state.
“We are staying focused on what we’ve worked hard on over these past couple of months,” Select Board Chair Dan Fox told the Independent. He declined to comment specifically on the group’s efforts, saying he would not do so unless the group identifies who is behind the organization.
Still, the petition effort is moving forward regardless of whether the group’s organizers publicly identify themselves. The Independent’s attempts to get a representative from the Marblehead Liberty Foundation to speak on the record were unsuccessful.
In its own materials, the Marblehead Liberty Foundation describes itself as a group rooted in Marblehead and founded to advance ideals of liberty, civic responsibility and American heritage. The foundation says it hosts community discussions, partners with local residents and engages with constitutional principles. It calls itself “a nonpartisan platform committed to preserving the freedoms that define both our town and our nation.”
The petition effort follows a recent example of voter action under Marblehead’s 1954 referendum law, which allows certain Town Meeting decisions to be submitted to a townwide vote if petition requirements are met.
In July 2025, opponents of Marblehead’s MBTA Communities zoning plan used that process after Town Meeting approved Article 23. Voters rejected the Town Meeting action, 3,642 to 3,297, with 6,939 of 16,732 registered voters participating. The 3,642 no votes exceeded the law’s 20 percent reversal threshold, which was 3,347 votes based on the registered voter total.
Heading to Town Meeting? Use our voter guide and live article tracker. The Marblehead Independent's 2026 Town Meeting voter guide walks through every article on the warrant and tracks the floor vote in real time. Bookmark it before Monday.
