Voters approve$60M budget
BELCHERTOWN – Voters approved the roughly $60 million budget at the Annual Town Meeting on Monday.
Voters approved of the following expenses:
$2.3 million for general government
$5. 4 million for public safety
$32.6 million for the School Department
$1.4 million for Pathfinder Vocational Technical High School District
$2.2 million for the Department of Public Works/highways
$447,000 for the Landfill Enterprise Fund
$2 million for the Sewer Enterprise Fund
$337,000 for the Stormwater Utility Enterprise Fund
$1 million for Human Services Departments
$1 million for Culture and Recreation Departments
$1 million for DPW buildings and ground departments
$6.2 million for pensions and insurance accounts
$79,000 to unclassified accounts
$951,000 to the interest and debt accounts
$200,000 to the Stabilization Fund
During the discussion on the budget, voters and town officials spoke about the town’s structural deficit of over $1 million and ways to correct the course.
Selectboard member Ed Boscher proposed a 1% reduction in the budget, discussing the town’s structural deficit.
He said if the town were to continue its trajectory, he believed the town would need to do a proposition 2 ½ override in the future.
Town Accountant Jill Rossi wanted the voters to know that voting on the budget was not an override.
“Our due diligence was done on this budget. We did not cut services to our community in this budget,” she said. She added that there would need another town meeting to present another budget, cutting 1% from the total budget.
Selectboard member Jim Barry said for multiple years, the question of how to fix the structural deficit, but that the town meeting floor was not the time to vote on the proposed reduction.
“We try to keep the services needed, to keep the schools open, keep the police department open, keep up on the roads and use the money... to close the deficit and present a balanced budget,” he said. “We’ve been talking about the structural deficit for 30 years, and for 30 years, we wait until the last minute before coming here to say, ‘The sky is falling, the sky is falling. Please do something…’ I don’t think it’s up to this group tonight to say no.”
Finance Committee Chair Laurie Shea said the town meeting voters should get to decide on the budget that evening and added that the committee would have liked more information on the budget this year.
“The Finance Committee would have liked more information this year just to have been comfortable and understand what would be best for the town for the future,” she said. “But whatever we feel personally or professionally, it’s up to each and every one of you to determine what we’d like to do.”
Following the discussion, the voters approved the article on the budget with a majority vote.
