Danvers Finance Committee Votes to Ban Crypto ATM Kiosks Linked to $249,000 in Losses

DANVERS — April 28, 2026 — Danvers Finance Committee recommends crypto ATM kiosk ban and $1 million school transfer at warrant review night two. The committee voted unanimously to forward a proposed bylaw banning cryptocurrency ATM kiosks to Town Meeting, after Police Chief Jamie Lovell reported that two remaining kiosks in town — at 431 Newport Street and 79 Maple Street — have been tied to more than $249,000 in documented losses since 2022, with only about $72,000 recovered across 16 incidents. Lovell said the machines disproportionately victimize elderly residents and described cases in which people cut through crime-scene tape wrapped around seized machines to continue feeding in cash. The committee also unanimously approved a $1 million free-cash transfer to Danvers Public Schools for unanticipated residential special education placements, over public objection from one resident who argued the town's special education stabilization fund should be tapped first; committee members replied that the fund holds less than $1 million, making a combined approach necessary. A $50,000 free-cash appropriation for emergency management — the first dedicated budget for that function — also passed unanimously, with Chief Brian Barry, the Emergency Services Director, telling the committee that $50,000 is "better than the zero budget we have today." The Essex Tech assessment article passed with one no vote and one abstention, the night's only split decision, as members debated a 12.5 percent assessment increase despite flat enrollment and only a 4 percent rise in the vocational school's own budget.