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Date: 1/4/2023
BELCHERTOWN – There are a lot of challenges and opportunities in store for Belchertown this year, according to Select Board Chair Jim Barry.
“We want to keep on keeping on and moving forward. We must take care of what we know is working well and look in ways to improve,” Barry said.
Belchertown has two positions to fill this year, the town administrator and town treasurer.
The current town administrator's contract is up at the end of June and the town treasurer that they recently appointed in Dec. 2022, told the Select Board “No thank you” after being offered the job.
“Hiring anyone in this day of age is hard based [on] how much you can pay and how many people are available. It was tough finding candidates for the town treasurer and now we must start that process over again,” Barry said.
Barry added that budget season is always a big challenge for each town because the town’s expenses go up every year, but the income does not.
He said, “The cost of living and everything else goes up every year but the increase in revenue does not go up by that same number. We are restricted [in] how much we can raise taxes. The people who sell us electricity, oil and health insurance are not restricted for how much they charge.”
Something the town can look forward to, according to Barry, is the municipal aggregation plan to help with the price of electricity.
“It is an opportunity for the town to purchase greener electricity at a less than National Grid rate for residents. That might be finished this year,” he said.
Belchertown still has American Rescue Plan Funds (ARPA) that they can use to help the deficit, which they did last year, but Barry added that many people in town want to not use those funds for the budget and instead make the expenses match the income.
Barry added there are two ways to fix the deficit without ARPA funds.
One way is the town asks for a proposition 2 ½ override, meaning the town would ask the citizens to vote yes to raise their own taxes above the limit, or to cut expenses drastically.
“When people suggest cutting costs, I say well we probably aren’t going to cut the police, fire, people who drive snowplows or ambulances so who do you recommend? That leaves the Senior Center, Recreation Department and Library as other options but people use those also,” Barry added.
Barry said right now the town saves some money through altering budgets they feel they can change, delaying purchases and saving money when someone retires or leaves.
Belchertown also looks for grants to help.
“We always end up with a balanced budget.” Barry added.
Barry would like to see the ARPA funds be used this year to help with the budget but also projects submitted to the Select Board.
“The ARPA funds are an opportunity to do something useful with money that we may not see again. I would like to see both the budget discussion and ARPA discussion take place at the same time,” Barry said.
The Select Board have hosted at least three meetings to discuss with department and committee heads projects that would like to be funded by ARPA.
The federal government also recently received money for infrastructure that Barry would like to see help Belchertown.
“I look forward to our legislatures deciding to disperse some of that. The easiest way would be raising the amount of Chapter 70 and Chapter 90 funds they give to the town. I hope the elected officials at the state and local level do the right thing,” he added.
Chapter 70 funds are the amount of money allocated to help support the school system and Chapter 90 funds are the amount of money allocated to fix roads and highways.
“It will be a busy year for Belchertown,” Barry concluded.