Southampton Select Board Approves Override Ballot Questions, Delays Warrant Vote to April 22

SOUTHAMPTON -- April 14, 2026, Southampton Select Board approves two-question override ballot for May 19, postpones warrant vote to April 22. The board unanimously approved ballot language placing a $1.9 million and a $2.5 million Proposition 2½ override before all registered voters on May 19; if both questions pass, the higher amount prevails. Town Administrator Scott Hibbert walked members through a draft warrant of roughly 25 to 30 articles, including a base operating budget of approximately $15 million, separated from a $6.2 million Hampshire Regional High School assessment that will stand as its own article, and flagged that the base budget requires a two-thirds town meeting vote because it draws on an approximately $60,000 operational stabilization fund transfer. Hibbert warned that failing to pass a base budget at the May 2 annual town meeting could trigger a cascade of consequences, including employee departures and disruption to the May 19 ballot. "If there's not a base budget, then it hurts the argument that we're going to need to have an override to continue on," he said. The board also voted to authorize the chair to sign a Greenway Committee courtesy letter notifying Grindstone Mountain Farm that rail trail construction expected around July 2028 may permanently cut off a crossing the farm currently uses along the rail bed.