Great Barrington — Police Chief Paul Storti, Fire Chief Scott Turner, and Southern Berkshire Ambulance Board President Jim Santos presented their fiscal 2026 budget requests during the budget planning meeting on Tuesday, February 18.
The meeting, which was held at Town Hall by the Selectboard and Finance Committee, was one in a series of budget planning meetings.
At a previous meeting, Interim Town Manager Chris Rembold emphasized that the town faces tough decisions in determining its fiscal 2026 budget. He said that because the Berkshire Hills Regional School District’s proposed budget has come in much higher than estimated, the town would be required to have a Proposition 2½ override to pass the fiscal 2026 budget. Proposition 2½ is a state statute that limits tax levy increases.
Interim Town Manager Rembold is proposing a police department budget of $2.19 million, an increase of $54,279 (2.54 percent) from this fiscal year.
Some of the proposed increases include adding a police captain line item to the department’s budget for $120,575. Police Chief Storti explained that the line item was originally for a deputy chief but was renamed. “We have always had that position for as long as I can remember, but we didn’t fill it for probably at least 15 years,” Storti told members of both boards at the February 18 meeting. “One thing I was charged with was to come up with a five-year vision for the department [in light of] how the community was changing, and what I could do to help advance the department.”
Storti said the position would give sergeants additional supervision if he is absent from duty. “I learned about the importance of [the proposed position] this year when I went on vacation,” Storti said. “As I was boarding the plane, I got a telephone call as I was ready to take off that we had the [Butternut Fire]. Captain [Adam] Carlotto handled it flawlessly. That shows the importance of having that role in the absence of the chief of police.”
In late December, after the Butternut Fire was extinguished, Carlotto was promoted from sergeant to police captain.
Also proposed by Rembold is a $10,000 increase in overtime pay to $195,000, a $3,830 increase in Chief Storti’s salary to $131,496, a $5,000 decrease in the salary for the parking control officer to $20,000, and a $12,500 decrease in the training line item to $65,000.
“Over four years ago, I took over the challenges of [police chief],” Storti said. “We’ve worked hard over the last four years to identify issues to try to professionalize the department in a transparent way. I know this is a challenging time for the budget season, but I hope that you support us and see the goals that we have made.”
Additionally, the police department has made several capital requests, including $127,100 for two police cruisers, $14,500 for a drone, and $6,000 for an E-Bike.
As for the town’s fire department, Rembold has proposed a fiscal 2026 budget of $909,669, a $12,192 (1.36 percent) increase from this fiscal year.
Fire Chief Turner implied to both boards that the proposed budget is inadequate for the department’s needs. “I think the biggest thing that has to be addressed is the level funding for [the department’s] budget, which is already as low as it is,” Turner said. “Right now, we have 18 volunteer [members] on call, but 10 years ago there were 43 members. Last year, we were responding [to calls] with two to three people. Ten years ago, there were a total of 549 calls. Last year, we had 1,320. Everything that we’re doing is increasing significantly between EMS calls and fire calls, on top of the workload that we have.”
Turner said that the department currently has four full-time members who work separate 24-hour shifts, while Turner works Monday through Friday, from eight to 12 hours a day.
“The things that we’re doing throughout the day are constantly increasing our workload,” Turner said. “Some of the programs like fire prevention, school outreach, and fire-safety education are some of the things that are being taken away from us because of our staffing and budget constraints. I understand this year is not an easy year, but next year could be even worse.”
Additionally, the fire department has made a capital request of $115,000 for new radio equipment, including 25 handheld radios and nine apparatus radios.
As for the Southern Berkshire Ambulance’s budget request, the EMS service is requesting $304,909 for fiscal 2026, a $99,583 (48 percent) increase from this fiscal year.
Southern Berkshire Ambulance President Santos told members of both boards that, although the request represents a substantial increase, there are multiple contributing factors for the uptick, including a five to 10 percent increase in costs of labor and supplies. “Our 2024 labor costs were $122,000 more than 2023,” Santos explained. “It was 10 percent higher, and all of it is due to overtime [costs]. It’s a common thread in EMS. We talk about staffing every single year, and 2024 was a little better as far as EMTs (Emergency Medical Technicians) go. But as we sit here tonight, we are critically staffed for paramedics. We have lost two in the last three or four months. That leaves us with four paramedics. Those four paramedics are covering those other [vacant] shifts, and that creates overtime. We do anticipate some improvement in that, but that’s not going to take place until two to three months.”
Santos added that the organization currently has three paramedics who are in training, but they must go through an orientation program before they are brought onto Southern Berkshire Ambulance.
The remaining budget planning meetings have been rescheduled from their previous times. According to the town’s website, the next budget planning meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 11, at 6 p.m. A public hearing for the proposed fiscal 2026 budget is scheduled for Tuesday, April 8, at 6 p.m.
