Stockbridge — With an average tax bill of $5,700 per Stockbridge homeowner this past year, residents may be looking at a higher tax bill next year once officials finalize the town budget.
The Select Board took a glance at the first draft of the 2025 town budget during its February 15 meeting, with Town Administrator Michael Canales touting an estimated 5.4 increase in budget, year over year, funds needed to run the local government. “The biggest areas hit are public works and facilities,” he said.
The expected increase is partly due to higher rates for getting rid of municipal solid waste, with an increase from $92 per ton for the last three years to $128 per ton, with either an additional 5 percent increase or annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) change for trash removal, whichever is greater, Canales said. A number of municipal solid-waste businesses saw losses in the past because their fees didn’t align with the increased cost of doing business reflected in the CPI, he said. As a result, the price to operate the town’s transfer station is expected to “skyrocket,” Canales said. “Within the next couple of years, the cost of running the transfer station will be greater than the [cost of running the] water department,” he said.
The dais discussed whether the transfer station should be a program subsidized by the town of Stockbridge or a utility, with the latter using the fees collected by the town to cover the cost of the station. Canales cited examples including Pittsfield, with its trash fees embedded in the residential tax rate, and Great Barrington, with a $350 annual fee for unlimited trash drop off or fee per trash bag dropped off, “and everything in between.” Upticks in station payroll are also a budget factor.
“To get us in line for next year, you would have to triple the cost if you were to treat [the transfer station] as a utility,” Canales said when questioned by Select Board member Jamie Minacci. “There would be $150 per sticker if you were to go that route. So, this is really just a philosophical approach of what is a transfer station, how should it run, does everybody use a transfer station?”
Options include keeping the current transfer station sticker fees and cover the shortfall through taxation or just charge those residents who want to use the station, Canales said, adding municipal waste costs will continue to go up five to 10 percent year over year. “Trash is going to become a huge cost going forward,” he said. Canales added that the station’s tonnage is up 26 percent.
Member Patrick White advocated keeping a low sticker price or none at all to discourage illegal dumping. “As this gets more expensive, the question is what are we trying to incentivize,” he said. “I think we’re trying to incentivize as much recycling and as much dump use.” He also pushed for the town to look at all municipal fees.
Select Board Chair Ernest Cardillo favored leaving the station’s sticker price “as is.” Currently the non-commercial, transfer station compactor fees are $50 per year for residents.
The upcoming budget meetings will consume a part of every Select Board meeting moving forward, and their focus will include employee payroll, lifeguard costs, town agreement with the Chamber of Commerce, town vehicle replacement, and contract negotiations for two unions, Canales said. The Finance Committee is also slated to weigh in on the proposed budget.
“This is the first initial look [of the 2025 town budget],” he said. “There’s going to be a lot of changes.”
At the meeting, the Select Board also:
- Approved submitting a 2024 Town Warrant article to the Planning Board substituting within its bylaws and other documents the word or words “Selectman” with “Select Board member;” “Selectmen” with “Select Board members;” “Board of Selectmen” with “Select Board;” and “Chairman” with “Chair.”
- Agreed to solicit the public for individuals interested to attend Lee Select Board meetings and report back to town officials of that group’s progress regarding the Housatonic Rest of River remediation plan, with the position not including decision-making authority.
- Approved destination signage at various routes, including Tanglewood and cultural landmarks, to be placed in the spring.
- Heard an update to the Glendale Middle Road Bridge closure. Canales said he sent a notice to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation for barriers, signage, and lights to be erected notifying drivers of the travel changes. He also moved forward on initial steps for a feasibility study to be performed on the bridge—an assessment and a recommendation—with those options to be brought to a town meeting enabling the bridge’s engineering work to begin.
- Agreed that the Stockbridge Bowl Stewardship Commission will be considered as “one stakeholder group” instead of comprised of various board or group members and approved Water Superintendent Michael Buffoni, Stockbridge Harbormaster Gary Kleinerman, and Minacci as three of the seven members slated for the group after sending out notices soliciting the interest of members in retaining their position. Four additional openings exist on the commission, with four members needed for a quorum prior to the group’s next meeting on March 7.
- Received a letter of resignation from Council on Aging Director Polly Mann Salenovich, effective February 29, with the council taking some time before moving forward.
- Adopted an inventory of the town culverts as an official document that includes photographs, dates that each culvert was built, and its condition.
- Approved a one-day alcohol license for Berkshire Botanical Garden for an event on March 1.
