CHARLEMONT — A town operating budget that’s up 10.6% over fiscal year 2026, regulations on accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and two bylaws that the Attorney General’s Office recommended the town remove are up for votes at Annual Town Meeting.
The meeting will take place on Tuesday, May 26, at 6 p.m. at Hawlemont Regional School. Voters will decide on 24 articles, with one article encompassing both the town’s fiscal year 2027 operating budget and its assessments to four school districts. Charlemont is among the last of the eight member towns to vote on Mohawk Trail Regional School District funding, and Charlemont’s assessment rose 0.4%, or $3,390, from FY26.
The total operating budget is $5.1 million, though recommendations by the Finance Committee would bring that down closer to $5 million.
In the town’s operating budget, Article 5, the two largest line item increases, in terms of dollar amount, are the salaries for the police chief and two full-time officers. However, there is a marked difference between what was requested for FY27 versus what the Finance Committee recommends.
The requested amount for the chief was $90,000, while the total salary requested for two full-time officers came in at $140,000. The Finance Committee recommends $82,552.51 for the chief and $55,465.95 for the police wages. Town Administrator Sarah Reynolds said the town used guidance from the Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG) to determine the wages.
Another significant change in the budget comes in the fire chief salary line. This jumped by 272.3% from FY26 to FY27, now sitting at $40,000. This fire chief would be shared with Rowe, and Rowe would pay the other half of the salary.
“To continue down this path, we wanted to do 20 hours here and 20 hours in Rowe,” Reynolds explained. “Anything in the budget is being hit by the fixed costs.”
Aside from the operating budget, all financial warrant articles will be funded using free cash, according to Reynolds. One of these is Article 8, which is the purchase of a 1-ton truck for the Highway Department for $168,500, along with a six-year extended warranty for $5,000.
Another is Article 10, which asks voters to appropriate $40,000 that will help further bridge repairs. Reynolds said the town has made its way through the 12 bridges that needed the most work, and Charlemont is moving on to other bridges.
“The Massachusetts Department of Transportation grants pay for the bridges themselves,” Reynolds noted, “but we need to do the easements and the appraisals.”
Article 19 includes two bylaws that the Attorney General’s Office recommended the town remove. One is a curfew bylaw for minors, which was implemented in 2004 and dictates that those under the age of 16 cannot be out past 10 p.m. without adult supervision, and the other is a sex offender bylaw, adopted in 2012, that regulates where in town sex offenders can live and creates a town registry of those who have been convicted of such charges. Reynolds said she was told by the AG’s office that these were unconstitutional bylaws, and that in the case of the sex offender bylaw, the state has a stricter law in place.
Meanwhile, Charlemont will have a new bylaw regulating ADUs if Article 21 is passed. This article aims to add a new section to the bylaws for ADUs. The proposed language details the purpose of ADUs as providing older homeowners with a “means of creating independent living spaces for family members, caregivers or renters,” while also providing “younger homeowners with a means of obtaining rental income,” according to the warrant.
This article comes following the implementation of the state’s Affordable Homes Act, which allows ADUs of up to 900 square feet to be constructed by right in single-family residential zones. Charlemont’s bylaw also allows residents to construct a second ADU in a single-family residential zone on a property where an ADU already exists, if they obtain a special permit from the Planning Board.
“[We’re] basically following what the state is proposing for accessory dwelling units,” Planning Board member Bob Nelson said. “Let’s at least tiptoe in and allow one extra [ADU].”
Other warrant articles include:
- Petitioning the state government to allow for the continued employment of two firefighters past the mandatory retirement age of 65. Their employment would not extend beyond three more years and would be subject to their continued fitness.
- Selling the town-owned parcels of land on Avery Brook Road. According to Reynolds, because the town voted to take the land at a previous Town Meeting, it must take a vote to sell it as well.
- Introducing fines for people who don’t pick up after their dogs. The first offense would entail a $50 fine. The fee would raise to $100 for the second offense and $300 for the third offense.
The full Annual Town Meeting warrant can be viewed at charlemont-ma.us/files/Town_Meeting_Warrant_2026_approved.pdf.
