Harwich Voters Approve $51.8 Million Budget and $11.8 Million School Roof Borrowing

HARWICH — May 4, 2026 — Harwich annual town meeting approves $51.8 million FY2027 budget and $11.8 million school roof borrowing on a six-hour first night. Voters at the Harwich Community Center on May 4 passed the operating budget 365 to 50, with Select Board Chair Donald F. Howell warning that debt service rose 34.5 percent in a single year and that the Monomoy Regional School District now accounts for 38 cents of every dollar spent. The Monomoy district assessment of $33,104,137 passed 389 to 42 after retired school principal Charles Gruska of Berry Avenue warned that consecutive budget cuts had eliminated the assistant superintendent position and that Harwich's share of regional costs has quietly grown from 72 to 77 percent since the district's founding. Town meeting also authorized $11,801,239 in district borrowing for a Monomoy Middle School roof replacement — subject to a May ballot debt-exclusion vote — by a 396-to-40 margin, following testimony from parent Courtney Wittenstein about mold, ceiling leaks, and "water pouring out of the ceiling." A $1 million appropriation for DPW architectural services failed 159 to 172, the night's only defeated capital measure. Two environmental home rule petitions passed: a fertilizer limitation request 173 to 130, and a second-generation anticoagulant rodenticide restriction 210 to 57. The meeting adjourned to May 5 at 6 p.m. to complete the remaining warrant.