Great Barrington — Both the Selectboard and Finance Committee last night (March 25) approved the proposed $10.9 million operating budget and recommended for voter approval at the May 4 Annual Town Meeting the Berkshire Hills Regional School District’s $13.5 million assessment.
The endorsement did not come without dissent. The town budget’s approval received a split 3-2 vote from the Finance Committee and a 3-1 nod from the Selectboard, with Dan Bailly opposed. Selectboard vice chairman Sean Stanton was not present.
Both boards had assembled in the State Road Fire Station to review about half of the proposed warrant items – the remaining items will be considered on Monday, March 30. Both the Selectboard and the Finance Committee each vote on whether to recommend a particular warrant item to voters.
Among the warrant items was the “general government budget” that Finance Committee member Walter F. “Buddy” Atwood III voted against without comment. His objection to the general government line item apparently concerned the 2.5 percent raise granted to Town Manager Jennifer Tabakin that had not been published in previous budget documents.
In addition, her evaluation for this year has not yet been conducted, and last year’s was kept private. Tabakin has insisted private evaluations are more effective, though the results of the evaluation of the previous town manager, Kevin O’Donnell, was made public. When prodded by NEWSletter’s Eileen Mooney, who noted she had never seen last year’s evaluation, Selectboard Chair Deborah Phillips said she would prepare a summary, and added that the funds for the raise would be appropriated in case the board decided to give her one.
Also, a proposed article that would have funded an Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB) account was removed. It was deemed unnecessary this year, at least, based on information recently gleaned by Town Accountant Lauren Sartori.
The Selectboard was unanimous in rejecting a warrant item promoted by Finance Committee Chair Sharon Gregory that would have required both the town and Berkshire Hills Regional School District to transmit “regular and special reports and statements” to the Finance Committee.
The Finance Committee had previously voted to propose an amendment to town bylaws that would require more school finance data to be included on the town meeting warrant. Gregory has repeatedly asked the district for special reports. School officials maintain that generating complex reports is time consuming and drags them away from their work, while Gregory said that such instruments were important for her committee.
In defense of her proposed amendment, Gregory added that it was also a way to help future finance committee members know what reports to ask for, but ultimately the Selectboard decided it was simply unnecessary.
Even with the amendment, Selectboard member and Berkshire Hills Regional School Committee chair Stephen Bannon said, “you still have to request it…I don’t see this motion doing it because you still have to request the specific documents you want.”
Selectboard member Ed Abrahams said the amendment that dictates terms to the school district is, in his view, “something the town doesn’t have the authority to do and is not necessary.”
With a great deal of cautioning and warning — and heavy heartedness — from some members of both committees, both boards last night voted to recommend that $13.5 million for the Berkshire Hills Regional School District’s budget be appropriated.
Leigh Davis made the motion, and Michael Wise said he would “second it to get it going.” But, he said, “I have a lot of trouble with this…I can support this only with the understanding that we do something about our tax structure to make it affordable.” Wise is referring to his research and soon-to-be-unveiled proposal for a residential exemption and split tax rate to help residents on one end, while raising the tax on those who might be able to afford it.
“I’ve run the numbers on this budget, and if we adopted this we could save the average taxpayer in Housatonic 20 percent,” he explained, although some would pay more “so that we can maintain the town that the volunteer firemen can afford to live in.”
“If we don’t it isn’t affordable. This is tough.” Wise further said that he is concerned that if Great Barrington votes no on the school budget and the other towns vote yes, there will be “bloodletting” at Town Meeting, and even more bloodletting when special town meetings are called to address it.
Finance committee member Thomas Blauvelt, along with member Walter F. “Buddy” Atwood III, voted against recommending the school budget. Blauvelt said that while Town Manager Jennifer Tabakin had “delivered a very disciplined [town] budget, he was “struggling” with the fact that 36 school employees were getting raises of “well above two and half percent.”
Gregory voted yes to the school assessment, because she said, “I do feel there is a real will among the [school] board…to institute long term changes to avert a crisis in the future.” She said there was still an “urgency” to address problems in the next six months, and she was “hopeful” about changes, including the formation of a task force, as outlined by advocate Dave Long, to “pull the community together.”
Superintendent Peter Dillon said that he was “hopeful” about the future of sharing services with other districts, as well as other promising developments such as Chip Elitzer’s concept of changing the district’s assessment method and Dave Long’s task force proposal.
Gregory said she “anticipates a tough session for the annual [town] meeting,” and wants the district to “reach milestones to mitigate some of the anxiety.”
In a sign that she was correct, resident Richard Ruth stood and implored the boards to “vote no now,” adding that “we need to see intelligent behavior” around school finances.
Wise appeared to warn Dillon that timing around task force committees is crucial in the next month. “We need to see names attached, people appointed, meetings held, well before town meeting. We need timetables and goal points.”
Before the 3-1 vote on the Selectboard side, Dan Bailly, who voted against the recommendation said, “I have a child in the school district so it’s not easy for me.” He commended Peter Dillon for “the progress that’s been made,” but said the budget was “unsustainable” and “unhealthy,” because when capital projects come around and the town says no, “ultimately our kids lose out…with a building that’s going to fall down because you’re never going to move forward.”
“I will have no problem supporting [the school budget], though I will having problems paying for it like everyone else,” noted Selectboard member Ed Abrahams.
