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Date: 4/7/2022
HUNTINGTON — At a joint meeting on March 31 with the newly elected Finance Committee, the Selectboard heard from Police Chief Robert Garriepy who submitted a Police Department budget with a 1.5 percent increase, the last department to be reviewed. The Selectboard and Finance Committee will now separately review the budget line by line, and reconcile at the April 13 meeting.
“It’s going to be a very tight budget this year,” said Selectboard Chair Edward Renauld. He said the town’s free cash — unspent money from previous budget years — was certified at less than expected, approximately $240,000 instead of $400,000. The town’s savings account, known as stabilization, is also down to $744,000 from over $1 million in recent years.
Last year, a transfer of $135,000 from free cash paid for an increase in the school budget, and the previous year, $140,000 was transferred into the budget, according to Renauld.
“We shouldn’t be using these accounts to pay off the tax rate, you can put yourself in a hole,” he said.
Renauld recommended starting the budget reconciliation process by looking at a cost-of-living increase and going from there.
“I think to start, we should look at a 2 percent employee increase and see where the number falls. We need to figure some things out, and have hard conversations about what our town can provide,” Renauld said.
“I don’t really see where we can cut operationally,” he added. Huntington’s share of the Gateway Regional school budget, and requests from the ambulance and highway departments, are all higher this year.
Administrative assistant Jennifer Peloquin announced that the new 2022 Ford F-450 for the Highway Department for plowing the smaller roads, would arrive at the end of the week. Residents voted to transfer $73,703 from the Capital Improvement Stabilization Fund for the purchase at the June 7, 2021, annual Town Meeting, and the truck was ordered July 1, 2021. That stabilization fund is intended as a revolving account for vehicle purchases.
The town has written a letter to the state Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development for additional money to improve Route 66. The $1 million grant awarded from the MassWorks Infrastructure programs is not enough, according to the board. Board member Karon Hathaway said the Highway Department is developing a plan for what the town can afford to fix with the grant funds.
There are 212 catch basins on the mile-and-a-half stretch of road in Huntington that must be repaired, in addition to milling and repaving the road. In February, Highway Superintendent Charles Dazelle said the road is close to needing a total reconstruction.
Another project the town does not have sufficient funds to construct is the new ramp for Town Hall, which is now estimated will cost twice as much as previously thought, leaving the town short by $70,000.
A request is into the other towns sharing in the previous year’s Community Development Block Grant awards, to transfer some of the collective unspent funds to Huntington for the ramp’s construction, a request that the town of Chester is considering and was continued at its Select Board meeting on March 28.
The board also voted to use $70,417 in federal American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) funds to complete the last mile construction for broadband service to unserved residents.
The Huntington Annual Town Meeting will be on the evening of June 6. The town election is May 21. Board member Roger Booth is up for re-election with no opponents, and there are no contested races on the ballot.
Pelletier said the Selectboard did receive a resignation letter from School Committee member David Lubbers, which creates an opening on that committee. Renauld said he would like to see the empty seat filled by appointment rather than as a write-in on the ballot, because it is too late for candidates to take out papers.
“I don’t think it’s a fair process if you can’t take out papers for a position that’s not vacant,” he said. Renauld said he would prefer to have the Selectboard appoint somebody, who would then need to run for re-election next year.