West Brookfield Town Meeting Approves $9.77 Million Budget, Eliminating Overnight Police Patrol

Town Meeting · Meeting of June 2, 2026

West Brookfield town meeting approves a $9.77 million budget that ends overnight police coverage and closes the elementary school. The June 2 annual town meeting, called after voters rejected a Proposition 2.5 override in May, passed all three motions under Article 4 after defeating an early motion to table the budget, a move officials warned would have left the town without funds by July 2. Police Chief Nathan Hagelin confirmed that the $180,000 cut to his department eliminates the overnight midnight shift entirely, with state police covering West Brookfield alongside six other municipalities from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.

A motion by resident Madeline Chamberlain to zero out the Council on Aging's $74,916 budget and redirect the funds to the police department failed after Hagelin himself spoke against it, saying, "We can't raid other department budgets on town hall floor." Two attempts to cut the $5,175,935 Quaboag Regional School District assessment were ruled out of order, with the moderator noting the town has no unilateral authority over the regional school budget. Article 10, renaming the Board of Selectmen as the Select Board, passed unanimously.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report, 3,755 words

Source: the Town Meeting meeting of June 2, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.