Charts, tables, and source documents behind every claim on marbleheaddata.org, organized by topic. Every number cites a primary source – see all sources.
All four ballot questions passed; the $15M operating tier governs FY27. The full campaign record, candidates, and result.
FY26 spending, budget, and pacing. Drill into every department, vendor, and line item.
How Marblehead's debt was incurred, managed, and compared to peers. $116.5M outstanding, AAA rating.
Compare Marblehead against all 351 MA towns on rate, levy, override history, and dozens of fiscal measures.
Every town and school department with FY27 staffing and salary lines, plus the elected and appointed boards above them.
School & staffing
430 school staff broken down by role: which are legally mandated, how Marblehead compares to peer towns by category, and what options exist.
The 2021 EBI assessment is the only comprehensive condition baseline; the district has no central record of what's been fixed since. FY27 is the first year a maintenance-tracking system is budgeted.
Student enrollment down 21% from its FY14 peak. Three staffing measures tell different stories: one up, two down.
ChartBudget & spending
Every vendor payment Marblehead has made so far in FY27, plus a budget-vs-actual view by Fund, Department, Category, Division, and Object. Refreshed daily from the town's spending portal.
InteractiveThe complete FY26 vendor ledger and budget-vs-actual explorer, archived and still refreshing as the town closes its books.
InteractiveEvery line in the town's FY27 Proposed Budget (No Override), with year-over-year change. The interactive explorer. The adopted budget adds the override funding once the town publishes it.
A ten-year walkthrough of how the town has actually spent the tax levy, who has been checking the books, and where the biggest line-item changes landed.
Town Counsel from FY2004 to the FY27 proposal, the school district's own legal spending, and every law firm the town paid in FY26 across all funds.
Sankey-style flow chart from FY27 revenue sources to expense categories, defaulting to the adopted $15M override view.
InteractiveDebt & taxes
$116.5M outstanding, 50 of 51 voter-approved exclusions since 1988, AAA credit rating. Where the debt came from, how an exclusion works, and the forward payoff schedule through FY2044.
CalculatorCircuit Breaker credit by income and home value. Only 418 of an estimated 1,158 eligible seniors claimed the credit in 2022.
Peer towns
Sortable, filterable table of every Massachusetts municipality by population, income, property wealth, and tax burden. Define your own peer group instead of relying on a curated set.
InteractiveMarblehead's Prop 2½ override votes with the ask, the result, and the margin.
ChartWhat happened in four Massachusetts towns after override votes failed: two came back with larger asks, two absorbed years of cuts without returning.
Light department
Fifteen years of MMLD's own annual reports plus board minutes, state enforcement records, and news coverage: rising maintenance spending, reliability awards, the 2022 rate spike, a hidden 3.5-year plant shutdown, and a manager exit now in court.
The same story at a glance: what's solid, what broke, what it costs, and what's in court.
Background & history
Seven years of FinCom warnings, in their own words. From "pleased to report no override needed" in 2016 to "significant budgetary challenges ahead" in 2025.
The FY27 override cycle in one place. The ballot questions, the candidates, both sides of the debate, the result, and what came after.
Marblehead's long-running pattern of contested town meetings, from the 1600s deed buyback through Prop 2½ debates today. Context for why fiscal arguments take the shape they do here.
Get involved
Beyond voting yes or no on an override: who decides what, when residents can input, and how to push for better oversight of the town budget.
Verified Marblehead residents can cast deduplicated votes on ballot questions and sign correction requests. Two-sided invite handshake via an existing neighbor.
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