Hingham Finance Committee Approves $346,129 Personnel Appropriation, Advances Electronic Voting Funding

HINGHAM — March 10, 2026 — Hingham Finance Committee unanimously approves personnel funding and electronic voting pre-authorization ahead of Annual Town Meeting. The committee voted unanimously to appropriate $346,129 for fiscal year 2027 non-union employee compensation and benefits and to pre-authorize up to $100,000 from unassigned fund balance to study and potentially acquire electronic voting devices for the 2027 Town Meeting, drawing support from the League of Women Voters, whose chair Liza O'Reilly said nine towns interviewed reported uniformly positive experiences. A vote on replacing the 26-year-old library chiller at an estimated $1.81 million was tabled pending a final cost estimate expected by March 19. A citizen's noise bylaw petition targeting pickleball courts and a controversial real estate transfer fee home rule petition both drew extended debate but no votes. A financial model presented by committee members showed property taxes for the average $1.367 million assessed-value home could rise roughly 26 percent over five years if HCAL borrowing, school building projects, and a $5 million override all proceed — against a 17 percent baseline — while a projected $2.1 million out-of-district special education liability for fiscal 2027 remains without a clear funding mechanism.