At the last meeting, the Town Administrator, Michael Canales, went over the operating budget, and this meeting was focused on the capital budget.
He announced an overall increase in the budget of $600,000. The increase includes costs associated with the fire department, infrastructure repairs, and Town employee raises in salaries and cost of benefits. Canales explained, “The entire budget is basically a continuation of what we’ve been doing. Except for the significant expansion, as I’ve stated, in our Fire/EMS…the biggest changes are 8% in public safety and 8.4% in employee benefits.”
Requested education budget – $4,324,090. Combined costs will result in the overall increase of 4.5% over last year and a 2.24% increase in average tax bill.
The capital increases do not include the school building or the new firehouse. It does include:
$250,000 from free cash will be used for installation of solar panels on the DPW garage and freestanding solar panels near the water treatment plant. Cost will be offset by a. Use of Free Cash b. Grants for which Stockbridge is eligible as a “Climate Leader Community” c. future savings in cost of energy to the town.
Select Board Chair Jamie Minacci asked if these panels would result in savings on citizens’ electricity rates. Canales said no, but it would save on the Town’s.
Capital improvements also include roads and bridges, sewer and water.
5 year plan for road improvements was based on a consultant report “by a company.” The Commonwealth’s Chapter 90 Program provides funding to municipalities for local public infrastructure improvements. The amount allocated to each of the Commonwealth’s 351 towns is calculated using a formula based on road mileage, population, and employment. More information on a five-year plan will be provided at the next Select Board meeting.
Five bridges – Tuckerman Bridge, Averic Road Bridge, Mary Goodrich Footbridge, Curtisville Bridge, and the Glendale Bridge. The assessed cost of repairs is in the millions. They are in various stages of design and planning.
The sewer account will cover a high percentage of the cost of repairs needed. The Water account will not. Water use has gone down significantly – approximately $50,000/annually so the rate will be adjusted.
The meeting closed with 2 announcements: appointment of committee to evaluate the concept of a five-person Select Board – all nine seats were appointed with SB member Jorja Marsden as the committee’s ninth member, and the next Stockbridge Select Board meeting – Public Hearing continued on Elm Court — will be Thursday, March 12, at 6:30 p.m.