COLRAIN — An overwhelming majority of Colrain residents voted to give all town employees a 5% raise due to inflation, despite the Finance Committee recommending a 3% raise, at Annual Town Meeting on Tuesday.
Starting at 5:30 p.m., attendees convened at the Town Office grounds to discuss 36 warrant articles.
Finance Committee member Howard Phelps started discussion on Article 3, pertaining to raising the salaries of all town employees by 5%.
“The Finance Committee felt that 5% was too high,” Phelps said. “I believe the taxpayers do not want to pay that much. As salaries keep going up, it is going to cost more money for the taxpayers.”
Selectboard member Michael Slowinski said when justifying the 5% raise, “We feel our valuable town employees should be fairly compensated for their work.”
Slowinski also noted that during a joint meeting between the Selectboard and Finance Committee, concerns about the 5% raise were not discussed.
Article 3 ultimately passed with a handful of “no” votes.
Article 4, the fiscal year 2023 operating budget of $1.79 million, passed with a few “no” votes. This budget is 2% higher than the current one.
Aside from the salary increases, some of the largest changes in the budget come from an annual financial audit, the cost of which is typically covered in an individual article, but is now being included in the budget. A $10,000 allotment will be put toward insurance for a boarded up factory building that the town insurance will not cover.
Articles 8 to 11 related to school expenses. Article 8, Colrain’s $361,048 contribution to the operating budget for Franklin County Technical School, passed unanimously. The $2.16 million assessment toward Mohawk Trail Regional School District’s budget in Article 10 passed with a one “no” vote.
Franklin Tech Superintendent Rick Martin said there are 27 Colrain students attending the school. This costs the town $13,332 per pupil.
“I want to thank FCTS,” commented resident Nicole Slowinski. “Both my kids went there and are now working in the fields they studied.”
During discussion of Article 10, Sheryl Stanton, superintendent for the Mohawk Trail and Hawlemont regional school districts, as well as a Colrain resident, explained 141 students are sent to Mohawk Trail from Colrain. The town pays $15,326 per pupil.
“Out of all of the eight towns in the district, we have the highest rate of kids in the district choosing our own school,” noted School Committee member Kate Barrows.
Earlier this year, Heath decided to start sending its students to Colrain Central School instead of Hawlemont Regional School. Articles 25 through 27, which all passed, accepted Heath students into the school district.
“We are excited to welcome the Heath students to the school,” Barrows said.
Article 32, changing the biannual tax system to a quarterly tax system, passed with a clear majority.
Paula Harrison, town treasurer, explained the town will now collect taxes in August, October, February and April. This new system will help with cash flow.
“Currently, the school is divided into six payments yearly. This does not match our cash flow,” Harrison said.
The change to a quarterly system has no effect on the cost of taxes, according to Harrison. The invoices are managed in-house, covering about 14,000 bills that take about three days to process.
“It will just take more time,” Harrison said.
David Greenberg added the Fair Share Amendment to the warrant as Article 36. This article passed with a clear majority, with several “no” votes from the crowd. The proposal would amend the state Constitution to create an additional 4% tax on the portion of a person’s annual income that exceeds $1 million.
Greenberg explained the Massachusetts Legislature added the Fair Share Amendment to the November ballot, so Greenberg added the measure to the Town Meeting warrant to allow residents to discuss it before voting day.
All other articles on the warrant passed and the meeting concluded at 7:30 p.m.
An earlier version of this article inaccurately quoted School Committee member Kate Barrows.