Somers budget cuts now include Saturday library closure: 'Out of things to cut'

Somers officials have approved another round of budget cuts after voters rejected the town budget for a fourth time, adding a Saturday closure at the public library and further staffing reductions as they try to win approval for a revised plan.

The latest version of the budget totals $41,640,005 and carries a 23.09 mill rate. It will go back to voters on July 14, 2026.

The changes come after repeated referendum failures forced town leaders to trim the budget again and again. Officials have said they are running out of places to cut without affecting day-to-day services.

New cuts

The newest round of reductions lowers library staffing enough to close the town library on Saturdays. The town also cut a full-time recreation employee and is shifting the public works administrator from full time to part time.

Town officials said the latest revisions will also reduce service at the senior center and the transfer station. Those facilities had already been squeezed in earlier rounds of cuts.

Finance Director Brian Wissinger said the town is close to exhausting its options. In a July 2 letter to residents, he warned that deeper reductions would sharply reduce core services.

How Somers got here

Somers voters have already rejected several earlier versions of the budget, leaving officials to keep revising the proposal downward. The most recent referendum failed by 151 votes, with 625 votes in favor and 776 against.

In response to the ongoing impasse, the Board of Selectmen set a temporary 23.46 mill rate while the town waited for a budget to pass.

The Board of Finance then approved the latest round of cuts in an effort to produce a version voters might support on July 14.

Services at stake

Wissinger told residents that the town was out of things to cut and said an additional $1 million in reductions would require even more drastic action.

He said that amount of savings would mean permanently closing the library and senior center and limiting the transfer station to four to six hours per week.

The warning underscores how much of the town’s budget pressure is falling on everyday public services. Library access, senior center operations and transfer station hours have all become part of the budget fight.

School budget pressure

The town’s room to maneuver is also limited by the school budget. Wissinger said the Board of Education budget likely cannot be cut below last year’s level without risking losses in state aid.

That constraint could matter if voters reject the revised budget again and officials are forced to look for more reductions. Town leaders have said they may wait for additional state data before making any further changes to the school budget.

Next vote

The revised budget now goes before voters on July 14. If it passes, Somers can lock in the new spending plan and the 23.09 mill rate.

If it fails again, officials will have to decide whether any meaningful cuts remain without causing further damage to town services.

For now, the town is presenting the revised budget as close to the limit of what it can absorb without more visible losses in service.