Great Barrington — Town Manager Liz Hartsgrove is scheduled to submit her proposed fiscal 2027 budget to the Selectboard and Finance Committee on Friday, February 13. Over a week before officially submitting her proposed budget, on Tuesday, February 3, Hartsgrove met with members of both boards via Zoom to discuss a forecast of the fiscal 2027 budget and the current status of the town’s budget for this fiscal year.
Last May, voters at the Annual Town Meeting approved the fiscal 2026 budget of $16.7 million, a $313,336 (1.9 percent) increase from fiscal 2025.
Instead of formally submitting a proposed fiscal 2027 budget at the February 3 meeting, Hartsgrove spoke of three potential budget scenarios.
“In the entire three full months [since being hired by the town,] we have done an extensive amount of careful review, policy analysis, and collaboration,” Hartsgrove said at the beginning of the meeting. “I believe that tonight’s presentation is a clear demonstration of that. It’s also about sustainability, about whether the town’s current financial practices protect our future and also what changes are needed to ensure that they do move forward that way.”
However, Hartsgrove said that she did not upload the presentation to the town’s website before the meeting. “[Town Accountant Allison Crespo] and I were working on this until minutes before this meeting,” she said towards the end of the meeting. “I have been working nonstop for two weeks working on this presentation. After this meeting, [the presentation] will be made available on the town’s website under the budget page. I’ll share it with the Finance Committee and Selectboard as well.”
Hartsgrove said the goal of her fiscal 2027 budget will be to “move beyond year-to-year decisions and focus on long-term financial health.” “There is really no single correct way to build a municipal budget across the country or in communities in Massachusetts,” she said. “They use different models depending on their size, complexity, and even their priorities. Some [municipalities] focus strictly on line items, while others emphasize performance programs or policy goals. What we know from best practice is that the strongest budgets do not rely just on one approach. A strong budget intentionally combines the strengths of several different models. And this year, I made—and it’s my general practice—I made deliberate choices to move Great Barrington towards that layered budgeted framework. This approach blends policy guidance, performance measures, program alignment, line item controls, and targeted zero-based review. By layering these methods, we are building a budget that is not only balanced, but also strategic, transparent, and aligned with community goals.”
All budget scenarios presented factored in multiple expenses, including the town’s share of the Berkshire Hills Regional School District budget, which is estimated at $23.8 million.
As of press time on Thursday, February 5, the school district has not started working on its upcoming budget, with Hartsgrove’s figure filling in as an estimate.
Hartsgrove estimates that the town currently has about $11.2 million in its free cash line item. However, Hartsgrove noted that, as per S&P best practices for free cash, municipalities should use the line item for capital and reserves and not for routine operations.
The first budget scenario Hartsgrove presented was a fiscal 2027 operating budget of $17.7 million, a general operating increase of 6.23 percent. Along with other various expenses listed, Hartsgrove estimates that the grand total expenses of her first plan would be $42.1 million.
Hartsgrove’s first budget plan would use $200,000 in the town’s reserve fund, would not rely on the free cash budget line item for recurring costs, would apply a two percent Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for all town employees, would restrict new borrowing to $728,620, and would use free cash in the budget for various obligations.
While her first plan would achieve most of the town’s financial policies, Hartsgrove said there would be a grand total deficit of $5.5 million.
The second plan presented by Hartsgrove includes an operating budget of $17 million, an increase of 2.45 percent from this year’s operating budget, with the town’s total expenses estimated at $41.4 million.
The grand total deficit for Hartsgrove’s second plan would be about $4.9 million and would minimally achieve the financial policies set by the town.
Hartsgrove’s second plan would not rely on free cash for recurring costs or allow a COLA for town employees and would use $150,000 in reserve funds. The plan would also not meet certain contractual obligations, would restrict new borrowing to an obligated $728,620, and would use free cash to pay for multiple obligations.
The third potential plan presented during the meeting does not achieve the town’s financial policies, but it would offer the lowest grand total deficit of $207,285 despite it having the same bottom line when it comes to an operating budget of $17 million.
This plan would not meet contractual obligations and would not include a COLA increase for town employees, $53,000 for VFW and American Legion leases, $50,000 in legal fees for litigation with Housatonic Water Works, or $15,000 for celebrations.
Last year, controversy erupted when then-interim Town Manager Chris Rembold proposed cutting funding for the Housatonic Legion/VFW and Great Barrington VFW leases.
In her presentation, Hartsgrove noted several constraints and risks in formulating a fiscal 2027 budget:
- A heavy reliance on free cash to offset general operating expenses at an estimated $3.9 million;
- Various estimated increases in expenses for fiscal 2027, including a 125 percent increase in the town’s subsidy to Southern Berkshire Ambulance, health insurance costs for employees increasing above eight percent, school district assessment increasing above seven percent, and the town’s general liability line item increasing above three percent;
- Inconsistent expenses, including employee overtime, snow and ice clearing, and expenses with Housatonic Water Works litigation; and
- A capital improvement plan that, from fiscal 2027 to fiscal 2027, ranges from $2.5 to $5.6 million a year.
As for capital requests from municipal departments for fiscal 2027, the department general requests have totaled about $16 million. However, Hartsgrove is recommending to fund only $4.86 million of those requests.
After Hartsgrove submits her proposed fiscal 2027 budget on February 15, the first round of budget presentations by town departments covering operating fund requests is scheduled for Tuesday, February 24, and Wednesday, February 25.
The second round of budget presentations, covering capital requests by departments, is scheduled for Tuesday, March 3, and Wednesday, March 4.
