Eastham Finance Committee Approves Four Budget Articles, Rejects Fertilizer Ban

EASTHAM — March 19, 2026 — Eastham Finance Committee voted 7-0 six times Thursday on warrant articles, rejected a fertilizer ban 0-7, and received finalized school budget figures pointing to a $465,000 Proposition 2½ override. Finance Director Rich Bienvenu consolidated final assessments of $5,293,000 for Eastham Elementary, $8,274,000 for the Nauset Regional district, and $796,236 for Cape Cod Tech — the last figure equating to roughly $29,490 per Eastham student — and reported the proposed override had dropped from $472,000 to $465,000 after NSET amended enrollment numbers. NSET Superintendent Glenn Robbins flagged that 121 district students are attending charter schools at a statewide cost of more than $26,000 per pupil and said enrollment is declining at roughly three times the state average, a metric a committee member requested be formally analyzed for next year's presentation. Cape Cod Tech School Business Administrator Aaron Orutt reported a $19.3 million FY27 budget at 4.51 percent growth, noting the school is at capacity with 703 students after 190 of roughly 450 applicants were selected under a new state-mandated lottery system. The committee unanimously backed a water infrastructure investment fund, a CPA surcharge restructuring, and an expansion of the residential tax exemption to year-round rental property owners affecting approximately 150 properties.