By Caleb Tobin
EASTON – A preliminary budget deficit of $5.4 million for FY26 is likely to result in cuts to public safety services including police, fire, and EMS.
Cuts to public safety are not final but could include rolling station closures, reduced staffing, and reducing or eliminating community engagement programs. Options for budget cuts were presented to the Select Board on Feb. 24.
“Budget reductions to date have not accounted for public safety, but because these departments are the largest non-school operation... they will need to be reduced in order for us to close the remaining $5.4 million gap,” said Town Administrator Connor Read.
Police Chief Keith Boone said most of the police department’s budget is taken up by staffing, and that budget cuts will mean a reduced police force.
“Ninety-four percent [of] our budget is allocated to people, so the people who are coming to work is 94% of our budget,” Boone said. “Our expense is extremely lean, and there is nowhere else to cut. We’ve looked at areas in expenses, it is very insignificant. It’s all people.”
To reduce the police department’s budget, Boone said the department could drop its detective division from four officers to three, which will result in longer response times for investigations and limited capacity to conduct investigations.
Proposed cuts also include reducing or eliminating the Community Resource Officer position, cutting the number of patrol officers on overnight shifts from five to four, and closing the police station during overnight hours.
“Some towns do that [closing the police station overnight] out of necessity, but that’s embarrassing for me as the chief, and as a resident, to think I wouldn't be able to drive to the police station to meet with a police officer 24 hours a day, seven days a week is, again, it’s 2025, and I just feel like we’re better than that in Easton,” Boone said.
Fire Chief Justin Alexander also gave proposals on how the fire department would deal with budget cuts.
One proposal consists of reducing the minimum staffing level per shift from eight firefighters to seven, and closing the Lothrop Street station when staff levels drop to seven on shift.
“If we drop that, and we lose that station... We'd lose an ambulance at that point which also could cover another fire truck when we need it,” Alexander said. “So that means we’re going to go down to one ambulance in some situations. Now that's not every shift, but it's going to be some shifts.”
The reduced staffing and ambulance availability would mean longer response times and increased demand on Easton’s mutual aid partners, such as Stoughton or West Bridgewater.
“Our mutual aid partners will see a demand from us that they’ve never seen in a long time,” he said. “So, it’s not just a burden on Easton, it’s a burden on our mutual aid partners.”
Other potential cuts include ending the community paramedicine program and community engagement events such as Touch a Truck and open houses.
“We’re not going to provide the service people are expecting. There are going to be delays in care, and we’re going to lose great firefighters in some of these scenarios,” Alexander said, referencing the impact that budget cuts could have on the fire department.
Select Board member James Stebbins said he is concerned about eliminating community outreach programs, saying it has taken years to build those programs and establish trust with the community.
Town Administrator Connor Read reviewed cuts being made to other departments, including cutting two full-time positions from the public works department, cutting $55,000 from Health and Community Services, not opening the town pool for the summer, and eliminating positions in general government departments.
Read noted that many Easton departments, including general government, police, fire, and others, already spend far less per resident than comparable communities.
"General government spends 52% below the average of our peers. We spend near the bottom of all towns in the entire state of Massachusetts, and I do not say that as a point of pride,” he said.
Read also said the projected deficit has been reduced from $6 million to $5.4 million due to a 2.54% increase in state aid, a $335,000 increase in the local receipts forecast, and an increase in the new growth forecast.
Even with those changes, Read cautioned against expecting the town to just “find the money” to make up the deficit.
“To be clear, as we do refine revenue forecasting, we’re not going to refine our way up by $5.5 million,” Read said. He added that Easton has already taken steps to regionalize services, such as the dispatch center, to save money.
At the Jan. 27 Select Board meeting, Read outlined what the town has done previously to address budget shortfalls. Easton cut expense budgets by 10% across the board in FY25, grew the stabilization fund to $7 million, and has consolidated departments and staff.
After the initial presentation, Select Board members voiced concerns about the impact these cuts will have on the community.
Member Jennifer Stacey said she is concerned about what the impacts would be from eliminating positions such as the Community Resource Officer, who responded to 259 calls last year.
“As you're both talking about things that have to be cut... I don’t look at that and see a cut, I see a really big hit on investment, and we’re seeing this at all levels of government right now,” Stacey said. “Yes, things can be trimmed, can be tightened up, but we’ve been doing that in Easton for a very long time.”
Select Board Vice Chair Craig Barger said it is unacceptable to go into FY26 with the budget cuts presented by Chief Boone and Chief Alexander.
“It’s unacceptable for the safety of the community, for the kids in our school program, and for our employees,” he said. “I just think it is time for folks to pay attention, to say, ‘this is real,’ and how are we going to change how our perspective, our potentials, if we don’t do something right now.”
The budget presentation can be viewed here on Easton Community Access Television’s YouTube channel.
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