Members of the “Yes for Arlington” campaign gathered Saturday night at American Legion Post 39 to celebrate voters’ approval of a tax override.
The approval of the override will allow the town to assess an additional $14.8 million in real estate and personal property taxes to fund the town and school budgets.
According to the town website, Arlington has had a structural deficit for years in which the growth in cost has outpaced the growth in revenue. The town asked voters to approve tax overrides in order to maintain town services.
More than 70 percent of people voted in the annual town election on March 28 to approve the override with 9,666 people in favor of it and 3,775 people opposed.
Jeff Thielman, a co-chair for the Yes campaign and the chair of the School Committee, said he was stunned by the results.
“The voters considered all the data and information that we provided,” Thielman said, “And they voted yes in an overwhelming number.”
If the override failed, there would have been significant reductions across town, including layoffs within the fire department and police force, reduced staffing in inspection services and the likely closure of Fox Library, according to a memo from Town Manager Jim Feeney.
“I think the lesson here is that you have to level with the voters, give them the facts, explain what’s at stake, and they’ll make the right decision,” Thielman said.
Liz Exton, a School Committee member and one of the three field managers for the “Yes” campaign, said she was thrilled with the results as they started coming in.
“This campaign worked incredibly hard, and so these are the results that we were hoping for,” she said.
Campaign volunteers spent eight weeks knocking on doors and reaching out to voters to give them information on the override, Exton said. Their teams made contact with 10,000 homes, according to the campaign. That is half of all Arlington households.
”Arlington really showed what we care about today,” said Laura Gitelson, another field manager for the campaign and a member of the School Committee.
Gitelson said she is proud of Arlington schools and everything that they have achieved.
“I think we’ve done incredible work, and I would hate to see us lose the resources that have allowed us to do that work,” Gitelson said.
School Committee member Paul Schlichtman said the results are “better than anybody could have hoped for.”
Superintendent Liz Homan said that the results were “very affirming.” As superintendent, Homan explained to parents what the implications would be if the override was not passed.
“We were going to have to cut 70 teachers if it didn’t pass,” Homan said. “And in future years, those cuts would have been a lot deeper.”
The schools also would have had to reinstate fees for athletic and music programs, she said. “It’s just more burden on families to need to pay for things that right now the school can cover,” Homan said.
The town manager said he was overwhelmed with joy when he heard the results. “As a dedicated public servant, it’s very rewarding to know that the people who we serve appreciate the work we do and, frankly, value the work we do,” Feeney said.
This story, published on March 29, 2026, is part of a partnership between YourArlington and the Boston University Department of Journalism.