COLRAIN — Among the 36 warrant articles set to come before Annual Town Meeting voters on Tuesday is a proposal to raise town officials’ wages by 5%. However, the article lacks support from the Finance Committee, which recommends an increase of 3%.
The meeting will convene at 5:30 p.m. on the grounds of the Colrain Town Office.
Article 4 proposes voters approve the fiscal year 2023 operating budget of $1.79 million. The town has a relatively similar budget to the current year, increasing by 2.1%.
“There is also some fluctuation in the years based on how many employees participate in the town’s insurance plan,” noted Town Administrator Kevin Fox.
The budget will fund the fiscal year 2022 audit at a cost of $16,000. Fox said the operating budget has not included a line for an audit in the past.
The budget also includes a $14,250 increase, a change of 21%, in the fuel budget due to the recent spike in gas prices.
However, the Finance Committee does not recommend approving this article because of concerns in Article 3, pertaining to raises for town officials. The committee was required to recommend the articles together.
Should Article 3 pass, compensation for elected officials will go up 5% as a cost-of-living increase. The Finance Committee, on the other hand, proposes a 3% wage increase.
“We want to keep taxes low for the elderly,” said Finance Committee member Betty Ringwood. “Taxes keep going up, but people’s fixed wages do not.”
Capital improvements from free cash are proposed in Articles 28 to 30.
“They are all in line with the town’s capital improvement plan,” Fox said.
Article 28 proposes using $145,000 to buy a new backhoe for the Highway Department.
“Currently, we have an older backhoe,” said Selectboard member Ben Eastman. “People need to think about where the maintenance guy will spend his time. Do we want him doing maintenance in the field or maintenance in the garage?”
Article 29 proposes using $60,000 to purchase a new cruiser for the Police Department and Article 30 proposes using $5,500 to upgrade the town’s computer network.
Articles 8 through 11 involve funding the schools. Articles 8 and 10 propose the operating budgets for Franklin County Technical School ($363,744) and the Mohawk Trail Regional School District (more than $2.16 million). Articles 9 and 11 involve the capital assessments of $46,638 for Mohawk Trail and $5,057 for Franklin Tech.
The Finance Committee does not recommend approving Mohawk Trail’s budget in Article 10.
“We want to know where the money is going and why students are leaving,” Ringwood said. “Mohawk is down to a little over 200 students but they are up in their budget.”
The semi-annual taxes will be changed to a quarterly tax system with the approval of Article 32.
“Changing taxes will help the people in the office better pay bills,” Eastman explained. “Instead of waiting for taxes to come in slowly two times a year, they will have it four times a year. They will have a better way to budget themselves.”
Other articles involve aligning the animal control bylaws with other towns in the region and considering support of the Fair Share Amendment, which would alter the state Constitution and create an additional 4% tax on annual income of more than $1 million.
To view the full 36-article warrant, visit bit.ly/3HrKI1z.
Contact Bella Levavi
at 413-930-4579 or
blevavi@recorder.com.