BRATTLEBORO-After eight intense meetings to draft a new budget, the Selectboard has voted to recommend a $24.97 million budget for fiscal year 2026 budget - a budget just 1.3% less than the one that Representative Town Meeting failed to pass in March.
The Selectboard-recommended plan proposes a 10.8% increase in municipal taxes, but taxpayers can expect to see their bills increase by about 5.6% on the tax levy in fiscal year 2026 when the school district is factored in.
If the budget passes as proposed, it would add $288 per median household or $24 per month more to the tax rate.
"I'm glad this re-examination of the budget has taken place that the town manager led and that he has created a new team," said Board Chair Elizabeth McLoughlin, noting Town Manager John Potter's team includes staff members and the town's former auditor. "It proves our staff is very flexible and adaptive."
"I trust this new budget and future planning has increased accuracy," she continued, adding that reviewing has also increased the board's understanding of current and future budgets, among other benefits.
In the proposed budget - redone yet again a week after the board realized the need for an additional $418,872 decrease - seven staff positions have been reduced or eliminated, saving $504,000.
The staffing cuts include not hiring an assistant town manager, an IT coordinator, or a police data specialist; changing the police emergency service post from full time to part time; downgrading the full-time accounts-payable clerk position to a part-time finance clerk role; reducing the sustainability coordinator to part time; and reducing the budget for the finance director, a position vacated in January by Kimberly Frost, by $14,503.
Reductions also came across the board - in the town fire department, police department, town manager, human resources and finance department, public works department, library, and assessors' office - in varied percentages.
A list of all reductions is available at the town website.
In the process of re-examining the numbers and consulting with town auditors, "we're learning things we didn't realize before and [...] that's setting us up to do a really good job on the FY27 budget," said Potter.
"I'm a little nervous about it," he said of not rehiring a new assistant town manager to replace Patrick Moreland ["Brattleboro assistant town manager leaves to lead fiber-optic group," News, March 5]. "You may have to alter your expectations a little."
He noted some work may fall to department heads who are "already pretty fully loaded" and suggested the board may want to re-evaluate the decision not to hire in a year.
Regarding reducing overtime costs, Potter said the board had to think if it "makes sense" to have extra people some of the time to reduce those overtime calls.
The board decided to add three firefighters to help cut excessive overtime costs, and they will monitor whether that works.
"From somebody who was on the other side of this process […] I am very aware that this is an imperfect budget," said new board member Oscar Heller, noting the proposed budget includes "compromises," "patchwork," and "capital deferments" in it.
Heller, a member of the Representative Town Meeting Finance Committee, also noted the board's commitment to re-evaluate capital spending and planning.
"I think we have something pretty sturdy here that we can take to Town Meeting," Heller said, noting that it was a document "that our town can work off of for a year."
Former board members critical
Former Selectboard member Dick DeGray called not filling the assistant town manager's post "shortsighted," saying it is "invaluable."
Another former board member, Kathleen O'Connor, again pointed out her displeasure with the process and the result.
"I don't feel any better about this budget than I did when I voted against it at RTM. […] I know you tried to make cuts, but they weren't any kind of strategic cuts," she said.
"You actually have to reduce how the town does business," O'Connor said. "We cannot afford it."
She went on to say "the core" of the issue in Brattleboro is that the board and town manager "won't acknowledge" the problem.
"I know you're going to vote for [the budget], but I have lots of concerns for the long-term future of the town that have not gone away; they've only gotten worse," O'Connor said.
A contentious exchange
The board's decision of last year to field a municipal fire/EMS department following an acrimonious termination with longtime provider Rescue Inc. remains contentious.
Resident William Kraham spoke, saying that Rescue Inc. sent a letter to the board accusing town staff of "trying to justify expenses."
McLoughlin interrupted to point out that Rescue no longer has a contract with the town and that his comments were not germane to the budget discussion.
But after Kraham continued, McLoughlin raised her voice and used her gavel.
"I will not have this discussion, Mr. Kraham," she said multiple times as Kraham continued to talk and the board stood to recess.
They ultimately did not and stayed to hear more public commentary.
Heller spoke to the conundrum of cutting a budget that's not cutting it with voters.
"When I run into anybody, they will say three things every time," he said. "They will say, 'I don't envy your job,' then they will say, 'You've got to bring the tax rate down,' and then they will say, 'Here's a list of three or four things you cannot change.' And that list is different for every person."
RTM special meeting on May 27
A Special Representative Town Meeting is set for Tuesday, May 27, at 6:30 p.m. in the gymnasium of Brattleboro Union High School (131 Fairground Rd.).
An informational session will be held at Academy School (860 Western Ave.) on Wednesday, May 21, at 7 p.m.
Each district will hold a caucus beginning at 5:45 p.m. to appoint one meeting member per district to a vacant seat in each district.
District 9 residents are invited to attend a forum to express their opinions about the revised budget in Brooks Memorial Library's Community Room (third floor) on Wednesday, May 14, at 7 p.m.
This News item by Virginia Ray was written for The Commons.