Southbridge Council Extends Town Manager's Contract, Ratifies Dispatcher Pay Deal

SOUTHBRIDGE -- March 30, 2026, Southbridge Town Council ratifies town manager's contract and dispatcher union deal at contentious March 30 meeting. The council voted 7-1 to extend Town Manager John Jovan's employment agreement for three years at a 2 percent annual raise, below the 2.5 percent other bargaining units received, and 6-2 to ratify a collective bargaining agreement with Mass AFSCME Local 478 dispatchers covering July 1, 2025 through July 30, 2028, which Councilor Daniels calculated at roughly a 36 percent increase including steps over four years. The council also received a proposed fiscal year 2027 budget of $83,306,764 for general operations including schools, rising to $95,851,684 with enterprise funds, set at the Proposition 2.5 levy ceiling, with a $1 million debt payment on the new $25.7 million fire station as the largest new tax rate driver. Town Clerk Madeline Bonadias certified 758 voter signatures on a citizen's petition calling for action on joining the Central Mass 9-1-1 regional dispatch district, just above the 748-signature threshold, placing the question on the June 9 town election ballot. Councilor Daniels, voting against the dispatcher contract, warned that escalating personnel costs represent "a train coming" for future budgets: "When cuts need to be made, they're made in personnel, because everything else is pretty much fixed."