Chance to meet the select board candidates, April 29.
Apr 24, 2026
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SOUTHWEST HARBOR—The town’s budget and its warrant articles are ready for town meeting.
Last week, the Southwest Harbor Select Board unanimously approved the final draft of the FY27 town warrant for its May 4 town meeting.
There are multiple increases in areas of the budget, including those that the Select Board does not control.
The school budget increases 8.9%. The amount of money the town has to raise for the county increases 8.7%.
The high school budget assessment for the town decreased by .96% ($18,801) though the town’s share still increased to $1,964,656 due to an overall 4.29% budget increase.
There is debt service for wastewater treatment plant renovations, employee cost-of-living increases, and salary adjustments to align with regional towns, Town Manager Karen Reddersen said.
The annual interest rate on Article 32 was reduced from 7.5% to 7%, which is the current maximum allowed, according to Town Clerk Jennifer LaHaye.
Board member Carolyn Ball confirmed the numbers are accurate within rounding error.
“I wanted to mention that when we go to town meeting, I think that we need to be prepared for one of us on the board, or many of us on the board, to discuss Article 21 regarding administration, because that’s a significant increase,” Ball said. “Part of our community would want to discuss that too.”
“Someone here can be prepared to discuss it,” Vice Chair Chapin McFarland said.
“Yeah. So review our budget books,” Ball said.
The voters can also vote to reduce some of the budget’s taxation burden.
The board also quickly discussed Article 26, where Island Housing Trust and other organizations are crossed out because they are not receiving funding this year (though they were funded in FY26); the town manager agreed to remove the strikethrough formatting from the numbers to reduce confusion and maintain transparency about prior funding.
The budget is approved or changed by the voters who attend the town meeting in person.
Last May, the town approved an increased amount to the municipal operations portion of the budget of $3,632,521. The total assessment for FY26, which began July 1, 2025 is approximately $13.5 million.
The open town meeting will be at 7 p.m. at Pemetic Elementary School’s auditorium on May 4.
ELECTION:
On May 5, voters elect town officers by ballot.
Voters will decide on two members of the Select Board for a three-year term; two members of the Superintending School Committee for a three-year term; and one member of the Board of Trustees of the Mount Desert Island Regional High School for a three-year term.
Select Board candidates are Tom Benson, Kalie Hess, Melanie Lisy, and Chapin McFarland. Our profiles for them are here.
Clifford Noyes and Maria Spallino are running without opposition to return to their school board seats.
There is no name on the ballot for the High School Board of Trustees.
The polls shall be open from 10:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday May 5, 2026, at the Southwest Harbor Fire Station at 250 Main Street in Southwest Harbor.
Residents of Southwest Harbor will have the chance to informally meet candidates for Select Board. A “tea and cookies” reception for candidates will be held at the Southwest Harbor Public Library from 6 to 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 29.
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
Who is Who? The Southwest Harbor Select Board Candidates.
We’ve updated this story (4.24.2026 at 12:38 p.m.) to include information about the timing of open floor town meeting.
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