CHARLEMONT — Now that voters rejected a three-year, $376,000 tax hike to pay for police, highway and fire department vehicles and firefighting equipment, the Board of Selectmen will meet with the heads of those three town departments on Sept. 12 to discuss alternative plans for this winter — and how to make do with resources at hand.
If approved, the Proposition 2½ debt-exclusion would have paid for a new highway truck with snow equipment and a police cruiser. For the Fire Department, it would have bought a used rescue truck, new fire hoses and new air packs and air bottles. The debt exclusion would have added $1.51 to the tax rate until it was paid off. The increase was to start in 2018.
“We have to start all over again,” Selectmen’s Chairwoman Beth Bandy said Monday, a week after a 91-to-98 debt-exclusion override failed by seven votes. Bandy said some officials from nearby towns advised her to wait until next year, but the board isn’t sure it can wait that long.
“We’re down to three highway trucks,” said Selectman Sarah Reynolds. “The fourth truck is not worth repairing — it would cost as much as replacing it. The truck sidelined would have been over $40,000 to fix.”
“So, if we have a big (winter) storm and one of the three trucks breaks down, we have two trucks,” Reynolds noted. Also, the Highway Department’s loader had a “catastrophic failure” and is now in the shop for a $12,000 transmission repair. This was an unanticipated expense, and the department had to rent a loader to continue gravel work this summer.
The police cruiser that was to be replaced is “dead,” and the board is considering getting rid of it. Meanwhile, the town’s 4-wheel-drive police vehicle is “limping along” with issues, Reynolds said.
Town Administrator Peg Dean is applying for grant money to buy firefighters’ air packs and tanks that were to have been replaced with money in the failed debt-exclusion ballot article.
When the oldest firefighter air tanks expire and become void, Reynolds said, “firefighters aren’t going to be able to go into a burning building. We’ll need to rely on other (mutual aid) departments.”
At its Sept. 12 meeting, the board said it hopes to meet with the police and fire chiefs, as well as the highway superintendent, to hear how they plan to prepare for this winter with equipment that’s already in hand.
The board is also looking into whether money from the town’s certified “free cash” revenue reserves or other sources could buy some of the needed equipment. They may also ask for a smaller sum at an upcoming special town meeting that may be held in early October.