Edgartown holding out on regional county agreement

Updated, Aug. 27

Dukes County is looking to formalize an agreement that has long been in place with Island towns to provide a number of shared services, including homelessness prevention and services for seniors, but there’s been one holdout so far.

The county has gotten approval and signatures from five Island select boards for its proposed umbrella services agreement, but Edgartown has yet to sign off, although commissioners say they proposed the idea more than a year ago. The lead Edgartown board has also yet to agree to a meeting with Dukes County commissioners, to the frustration of the county.

“It is frankly insulting that elected officials won’t abide by voters’ desires,” said Commissioner Doug Ruskin, who noted he was not speaking for the whole commission. “The Edgartown Select Board has refused to discuss this with us in a formal way, and they have rebuffed us.” 

For their part, Edgartown officials say that shared services programming has worked out fine for the past 10 years, with Edgartown residents able to access programming, and they don’t see an umbrella agreement as necessary. Edgartown also doesn’t believe it will have enough representation in the proposed agreement, considering the town contributes far more than the next-highest-paying town, Oak Bluffs. Oak Bluffs signed off on the agreement earlier this month.

Since 2014, when towns approached the regional body to act as a funnel for funding, the county has entered into contracts with various providers across the Island to provide regional services to Island residents. That includes funding for homeless prevention programming overseen by Harbor Homes, and substance use prevention administered through Martha’s Vineyard Community Services. The county also acts as the fiscal agent for several services for seniors on the Island looking for help, including through the Martha’s Vineyard Center for Living and its senior day program, and Healthy Aging Martha’s Vineyard. One of the more popular programs, Vineyard Health Care Access Program, which is administered by the county, served more than 3,308 Islanders looking for help navigating Medicaid and Medicare signups or Social Security benefits in fiscal year 2024.

Over the decade, town meetings across the Island have been approving the funding at their respective town meetings and, generally, without much discussion or nearly unanimously. 

Oak Bluffs, for example, paid more than $355,000 for the shared services programming for fiscal year 2026. Edgartown has paid nearly a third of the shared services. For fiscal year 2026, it is expected to pay nearly $536,000.

But commissioners and county staff have said that there is no agreement, other than verbal, in place that requires towns to have the county act as a fiscal agent to administer the funding. Commissioners argue that it’s good business practice to have that in writing; an umbrella agreement would give them the legal framework. The funding will still need to be approved at town meetings — whether in individual town budgets or as individual warrant articles.

Part of the umbrella agreement would be the creation of an advisory committee. This committee could consider and discuss regional services that could benefit all Island towns, and decide which ones are no longer necessary. The advisory committee would include county staff, but would mainly be made up of one representative from each Island town. 

But how that framework is made up has raised some questions for Edgartown, which would only have one representative on the committee, like the other towns, despite paying much more of the shared services.

“Although Edgartown contributes nearly 40 percent of the county budget and over 30 percent of the funding for health and human services, the proposed agreement would provide us with only one vote on an eight-member advisory committee — an arrangement that is fundamentally unacceptable,” James Hagerty, Edgartown town administrator, said in a statement to The Times. 

“Moreover, we are cautious about entering into binding contractual relationships that diminish local control and expose the town to unnecessary risk. We firmly believe that decisions regarding these essential programs belong with the voters at town meeting, not with an ad hoc committee lacking proportional representation,” Hagerty said.

Hagerty also said that having a public meeting with the county at this point would be moot, considering the makeup of the advisory committee.

But county commissioners noted that aside from the creation of the committee, there would be no substantial changes. Towns would still have control over how money was spent at town meetings.

County Commission Chair Christine Todd said they would have to figure out what to do next if Edgartown refuses, but Edgartown could have to funnel the money directly to the service providers, rather than through the county, if it doesn’t sign off. 

“If towns took this on independently, it would cost a lot more money and would be less efficient,” Todd said. “I am hoping that we can come together and recognize our needs as a whole.” The county, she noted, is poised to be the agent to fulfill those more effectively.

Ruskin echoed Todd’s remarks, noting that it could be on Edgartown to fund the services. 

“Those who lose out are people who receive those services,” he said. “If [Edgartown] doesn’t sign for us as the fiscal agent — Health Aging, Harbor Homes, Community Services — they’ll have to engage with them directly.

“As an Edgartown taxpayer, that’s a waste of money,” he said.

This post was updated with correct name of Dukes County Health Care Access.