Town Edition
Hampshire County
Belchertown, Massachusetts
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
On May 19, 2025, a Proposition 2 1/2 override carried Belchertown by 2,146 votes to 2,126, and it was so close that two residents petitioned for a recount. On June 11 the Board of Registrars re-counted all 4,284 ballots by hand, moved a single blank in Precinct B into the no column, and certified the rest exactly as the Town Clerk had. Final margin: 19 votes. That is what a school budget can come down to here. A year later, on May 18, 2026, 1,761 people filled the Select Board seat, two School Committee seats, the Planning Board, the Moderator’s chair, two Board of Assessors seats and two Board of Health seats for a town of 15,350, which tells you what a single ballot is worth in a town election. This guide shows you where those rooms are and how to walk into them.
Belchertown at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Hampshire. Belchertown covers 52.6 square miles, one of the largest land areas of any town in Massachusetts, at about 292 people to the square mile, and it runs right up against the Quabbin Reservoir.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected five member Select Board and an appointed Town Manager, Steve Williams.
- Schools: Belchertown Public Schools, about 1,965 students, led by Superintendent Brian Cameron.
How Belchertown’s Government Works
Belchertown runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Belchertown is a member, and any of them can walk in, speak, and vote on the budget. Voters also elect a 5 member Select Board to set policy between meetings and the School Committee that oversees the schools. The Select Board hires a professional Town Manager to run the town day to day. So the money is voted by whoever shows up, the direction is set by the Select Board, and the daily work is carried out by the Town Manager.
Town Meeting
The legislative body, and it is not a committee. Every registered voter in Belchertown is a member. Town Meeting adopts the annual budget, passes town bylaws, and approves major spending. This is direct democracy in its literal sense.
Select Board
5 members elected town-wide. They set policy, sign the warrants that decide what reaches Town Meeting, appoint residents to many town boards, and hire and supervise the Town Manager.
Town Manager
The appointed chief administrator. Runs the departments, builds the budget, and answers to the Select Board. Hired under contract, not elected.
School Committee
5 members, elected by the voters of the district the schools serve. It sets school policy, approves the school budget, and hires the Superintendent.
- Residents elect the 5 members of the Select Board and the School Committee.
- The Select Board hires the Town Manager and decides what goes on the Town Meeting warrant.
- Town Meeting votes the budget and the bylaws, and every registered voter present can vote.
- You take part: register at 16, vote at 18, and once you are registered you are already a member of Town Meeting.
Civic Calendar
- Select Board: the first and third Monday of every month at 6:30 PM, in the Select Board Meeting Room at Town Hall, 2 Jabish Street. When a holiday lands on one of those Mondays the board meets the following day, and it never meets on a fifth Monday. Meetings are hybrid, and the agenda carries the link.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting is the second Monday in May, in the Belchertown High School Auditorium at 142 Springfield Road. In 2026 both a Special and an Annual Town Meeting ran back to back on May 11, and the Moderator was Benjamin Farrell.
- Town elections: the Annual Town Election is the third Monday in May, at the Belchertown High School auditorium, across four precincts. The 2026 election was May 18.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The state primary is September 1, 2026 and the state election is November 3, 2026, with early voting in between and the polls open 7 AM to 8 PM.
Explore the Belchertown Edition
- Town Manager’s OfficeThe town’s chief administrator
- Select BoardYour five board members
- School CommitteeSuperintendent & committee
- Town DepartmentsWho does what at Town Hall
- Boards & CommissionsWhere residents serve
- LegislatorsYour voice in Boston & D.C.
- Belchertown History1761, the carriages, and the Common
- DemographicsWho lives in Belchertown
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataBelchertown schools by the numbers
Your County Officials
Two of the people with the most direct power over your life are elected countywide. The district attorney decides who gets charged with a crime, and what they get charged with. The sheriff runs the county jail. Both of them answer to the voters of Hampshire County, and that includes Belchertown. They appear on your ballot. Now you know what to look for.
Every county in Massachusetts elects its own, and the job is the same everywhere: the charging decisions, the jail. Look up any town in the state and see who holds these two offices there.
Your First Civic Action in Belchertown
You do not have to wait until you can vote to be heard in your own town. Here is how to take a real concern to the people who decide.
- Pick the right body. Town policy, roads, licences and public safety go to the Select Board. Schools go to the School Committee. The budget and the bylaws are voted by Town Meeting.
- Find the meeting. The Select Board meets the first and third Monday at 6:30 PM at Town Hall, 2 Jabish Street, and every agenda is posted in advance on the town’s Agenda Center.
- Know your members. All five Select Board members are elected town-wide, so every one of them answers to every voter in Belchertown.
- Speak. Public comment opens the meeting and the board’s own policy gives each speaker three minutes. Say what you want and what you want done.
- Or skip the trip. A pothole, a broken light or a missed pickup goes to the Department of Public Works, which is the department that owns the repair.
- Town Hall: 2 Jabish Street, Belchertown, MA 01007. The Select Board and Town Manager’s office is at the Finnerty House, 1 South Main Street, 413-323-0403.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 413-323-0281, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at belchertown.org.
- Public schools: Belchertown Public Schools, 413-323-0423, belchertownps.org.
Local government works best when residents show up. Meet your Select Board, speak at a meeting on the first or third Monday, or simply register to vote and take your seat at Town Meeting.