Hull Town Meeting Passes $54.6 Million Budget, Defeats Capital Planning Petition

HULL — May 4, 2026 — Hull town meeting passed a $54,556,809 fiscal year 2027 budget Monday after a contentious session that included 17 line-item holds, two failed attempts to amend the town clerk's stipend, and the defeat of a citizen petition to restructure capital project planning. The body approved the clerk's annual stipend at $45,500, up from $26,000 — the first increase in roughly a decade — after rejecting both a reduction to $25,500 and a counter-proposal to raise it to $100,000. A motion to cut the school department's $18,942,133 share by $284,132 also failed, with Superintendent Dr. Mike Jetty telling voters Hull spends the lowest share of its municipal budget on education of any South Shore community in the comparison set. The meeting added $10,000 to the DPW budget for summer vegetation management at Fort Revere Park. Article 35, a citizen petition by Lisa French that would have required Planning Board sign-off before capital projects could advance, was defeated by voice vote after Advisory Board Chair Jason Frady argued it would improperly "upend the capital planning process." Electronic voting equipment failed repeatedly throughout the evening; several votes were decided by voice vote or show of yellow voter cards. Town meeting reconvenes Tuesday, May 5, at 7 p.m. at Hull High School.