At Annual Town Meeting Saturday, May 3, voters will be asked to approve 44 articles. 

Article 12 in this year’s warrant booklet asks Town Meeting to approve a $35.1 million omnibus budget to pay for the operation of town departments and the schools next fiscal year, which begins July 1.

Readers looking for a one-page overview of the fiscal 2026 budget—and assurance that it balances—should turn to Harvard’s five-year budgeted revenue and expense projection, often referred to as the “recap.”

What is 27 pages long and brimming with diagrams and design specs for village-like, clustered development? It’s the new commercial zoning bylaw proposed for Harvard’s commercial district, a 1.2 mile stretch of Ayer Road between the Route 2 interchange and the Ayer town line. 

On April 18, Department of Public Works Director David Smith abruptly announced he was terminating his employment with the town effective that day, one month earlier than he was scheduled to leave.

This year’s Town Election follows the Annual Town Meeting by three days on Tuesday, May 6.