T’was the week before Christmas and all through the town, not a creature was stirring except for the Brattleboro Selectboard discussing FY26.
The board used Town staff suggestions and assumptions as a starting point. They boldy saved items from being cut but also agreed on cuts worth close to $2 million. Police will get new uniforms, for example, but snow cleanup, arts, and human services will see cuts. Members of the public cautioned that these were superficial, one-time, unsustainable cuts and told the board they pushing taxpayers over a cliff in years to come.
Preliminaries
They do start late, as you might expect. 6:19pm But this board does have good attendance. : )
….
Chair Daniel Quipp – we have one thing on the agenda and will spend a lot of time. It is a big task and might not be easy to work through so I’ll do my very best, and I ask everyone to bear with us. The selectboard will need to do a lot of deliberating – 58 decisions. Might be kind of tricky. I’m asking for a little mercy. Raise your hand if you want to speak.
Town Manager John Potter – a few things. VT River Conservancy has transferred the park to us today. All done and in place. Rec & Parks will have numerous events. Look for their brochure. Brooks Memorial Library has a survey about technology services – go to the library web site or print copies available at their desk. Getting feedback on parking system. Instruction stickers, more signage and an instructional video are all in the works. Petitions are available for candidates. Be aware of deadlines. Happy holidays, last meeting of the year.
Franz Reichsman – It would be remiss if we didn’t say something about the RTM last week – acceptable community conduct was repealed. Some things are fixable and welcome input from the public as to what they thought of the process.
Public –
Dick Degray – happy holidays. I want to talk of the new bridge and the lights sequencing. I figured they would be a mess for a few days. I haven’t seen anyone working on adjustments. If you are heading south to 142 off Main Street – the length of time is the same or longer than before. Heading north, the time increased but not as much and traffic is backing up onto the bridge. Another issue cropping up is the entry into the museum parking lot – to get in there to plugs up the whole intersection and creates mayhem, and the building next door. It seems like the traffic when heading north down Canal Street is not very long – about the same as before. The lights coming off of Main street stays green and the light down Canal St gets the right of way. Biggest problem is traffic coming north. I’m guessing the sequencing has to do with Flat and Elliot.
Potter – I can update what I know. The highway superintendent has been in touch with Trans and have made some adjustments last Friday that addressed some times and detection issues. It might take a few more times to get it right. We think that the improvements should start to come into effect to improve that 142 flow. Give DPW any feedback you have. That’s where we are at. It i a whole new system.
Degray – you should consider an ordinance for blocking the box – that would be something I would consider.
Mary – Cotton Mill Hill – people are choosing to go that way to get to the bridge – you can go around and make a wide turn. If someone is coming up 142 up Cotton Mill Hill – people will choose that route.
Potter -we are looking at that intersections – budget reductions would impact that intersection.
Kurt Daims – of BCS – the board should be duly chastened about the vote on the homeless ordinance. The board needs to get in touch with the people. Look at the BCS emergence homelessness model. It is a very good way to get the problem out of downtown.
Fric S- as far as the bridge, don’t fix lights too much. Don’t let malfunction junction lose its credibility with the public. There is no ordinance about blocking the box at traffic lights? I’ve seen it happen on High Street and it is frustrating.
Lisa N – I agree with Mr Daims that I hope you will all take a look at the process and results on Thursday and say hmmmm maybe it is time to say we don’t know – when you do the same thing over and over and get the same results …. while I am homeless now I was a property owning taxpayer for far longer in this community. I’m a banker’s granddaughter. The budget is not what I think public service looks like. I’m not the only one remembering that we have appropriate scale for enacting representative democracy. There are better ways to invest the taxpayer’s money. if you don’t want to change that people will remember that…
Pierre L – it’s been on my mind for a while but budget-related – has there been any directive to curtail overtime? This is about curtailing overtime. The fire department already spent 95% of overtime budget before Sporty’s fire. Any directive to supervisors?
Penelope – a quick request that the parking situation has caused a lot of distress – a lot of the time the machines aren’t working and people are frustrated because we are one of the few towns that charge for parking at xmas. My business is way down. Se we not cutting off our nose to spite our face – you get 1% from tax, but if we all earn less, is that not better to do without the parking? I know that Kate was hoping to have the same thing – just a week before xmas with free parking. A lot of people are telling me they aren’t paying for parking. It just seems like it is not working.
Daniel – the town will increase signage and help people learn how to use the system.
Consent Agenda
A. Third Class Liquor License Renewal – Plated Bar and Restaurant
B. First and Third Class Liquor License and Outside Consumption Permit– Spring Tree Marina LLC
C. Utility Rate Study – Award $56,200 Contract
D. Certify the 2024 Grand List to the State for Errors and Omissions – Approve Final Changes
E. Better Roads Grant – Authorize Up To $20,080 Grant Application
F. Highway Division Vehicle #42 (Hot Box) – Authorize $55,000 Purchase
G. Assistance To Firefighters Grant – Authorize Grant Application
And consent was granted…
FY26 General Fund Budget / Possible Reductions
Daniel – it is the FY26 general fund budget and possible reductions. The TM has written a good memo.
Potter – you considered a base budget, had an open house, then in Nov 19 meeting you asked for 5% and 10% reduction tot he base budget. Management got together and looked at it by priority – we wanted to minimize service reductions, keep staffing to vacancies, etc… once an initial list was put together, they prioritized. Attachment A in the backup materials shows a 5% and 10% budget reduction scenario with the rank of items from 1 to 58 total items, department it would most impact, the amount it would save, the cumulative reduction going down, tax savings, and cumulative savings. The 5% reduction would take $1.6 million off the base budget in 36 areas. The 10% reduction would take $2.6 million off the base budget and ad 16 more areas to the 36. Finally, we showed the work on another 6 items that could get you to a $ 3million reduction. WE can go through item by item, but we also have an analysis in Attachment C that shows the progressive impact of these reductions by home assessed value and income level. Finally, no matter what you do, there is still an extreme amount of value the residents get from town services. We compare to Keene and Greenfield…on a per cap basis – we are 5% less than Keene and 2% less than Greenfield with our base budget for FY26… if you compare us in the region. Very competitive costs overall. If you go for a 10% reduction – 13% lower than Greenfield… town gets good value for cost.
Daniel – I’ll do some additional framing. I want to speak to the schedule. I could have sworn that we might have a meeting on January 14th and want to check in about that? I’m seeing nods… I don’t want to forget about it if we need the time. John described the town staff approach and I applaud people for that work – it is hard and somewhat demoralizing. The reason we asked for the reduction is we are being responsive to the public who think 22% is too much. The main drivers are funding additional police and continuing trash, recycling and compost. Yes, being responsive to the taxpayer, but also responsive to people looking for these services. I think tonight as we explore the ways the budget can be reduced. The board will react and the community will react and we’ll end with a clearer sense. I’m not expecting and big votes – we’ll give feedback. Maybe by the end will have a consensus of how to move forward. I have been pondering how to get through 58 recommendations. I say let’s go page by page.. we’ll just march forward. Public – we can take breaks to hear public feedback on items.
Franz – that is okay but is missing an element – things not on this list. There are other approaches and other ways that were not the ways borough back to us. There needs to be some room for those to be introduced.
Daniel – our work tonight is what is before us. We can raise them, but discuss them later…
Franz – how do we have a consensus without being able to raise items?
Degray – Jan 21 you will adopt the budget – it is open ended and doesn’t have to be adopted. The first iteration can go out the the public – you are shaking your head – it doesn’t have to be adopted by a certain date – take as much time as you need.
Potter – I think we can go to Jan 28, but we need to publish it.
Daniel – we’ll go page by page – I want to hear dealbreakers, and things we want to hear more about.
Franz – i think an important paragraph is the one you heard about the ingredients of the approach to making this list. In particular, as John said – try not to build future budget challenges. What happens as we proceed further down the road into the future. Don’t use one time money to pay for recurring expenses. Look at impact on future budgets. Salaries and benefits. Look at the future implications, and does this get us where we need to go.
Richard Davis – want to clarify – the priority is the most expendable and then down the least?
Potter – easy ones at the top of the list but you may see priorities differently.
Mary – part of what you were talking about – we are here because of inflation. The homestead property tax doesn’t keep up. The top income to get the credit was $147k. That would be $18 now… but as we know, the max income to qualify was $128k, which would be $132k now. This year it dropped to $115k. The state of VT won’t help us out of this. Greenfield and Keene are high tax places for their states. What about Bennington?
Daniel – the 22% increase ins’t just inflation – it is police and solid waste and reduction in bag sales. Okay, ..
they start down the list (see online)
Potter – on the ladder truck note requirement, it would require $250k to retire the debt.
Daniel – anything on this page a deal killer?
Liz – good with the whole page
Franz – use grant savings for capital fund- that is a one time use of a grant this year and that what that doesn’t address is, how to say it. when we made emergency spending to fund the downtown safety action plan, we took money from out fund balance and said it was an emergency. This money to be transferred to the capital fund was mentioned at the time to defray the fund balance deficit, so while I’m not against using the money, but we had another use that was very important to restore the fund balance and that’s something we haven’t discussed at all as part of the budget. How will we deal with we spent that money. We are spending fund balance here but it isn’t replicable and failing to address a bedrock principal.
Richard – good with these five.
Daniel – use of grant savings to reduce the capital transfer from the general fund… I hear Franz – we got this grant – can unspent funds be spent that way?
Potter – it is grant savings – we paid for it then a grant came it… like a grant for capital equipment.
Daniel – we owe $250k on the note and will pay it off from the revolving loan fund, and then that saves us $55k a year until FY30. I can live with that.
Richard – as we do this – should we keep track of the revolving loan fund and what we are doing to it and the potential to put anything back into it.
Potter – do you know the balance Patrick? I know it is available?
Moreland – I don’t recall. When we did the substation I think we had about half a million, which is generally more than what we have. We can get a clear answer on the balance.
con't
Degray – doe everyone get a 3% cost of living, and 1% reduction in STEP what is that down from ? 4%? I don’t see any reduction in social security. Why isn’t that here?
Potter – yes, the reduction – the savings on #4 would be to take the COLA from 4% to 3% for all staff. Non union wage step – people were hired thinking they would get 4% steps and this would make it 3% steps. Not sure if social security savings was incorporated into these savings. Won’t be that significant if it isn’t.
David L – So, probably not something to be done tonight or even January, but two items for serious discussion – the revolving loan fund . It has been handy piggy bank for many things. Board needs to look at it closely and what the true purpose is for those fund, and the second matter – I’m not well informed about how the step system in personnel works and how it operates. One the finance commitee we are not clear on the system on steps.
Franz – we could make it available in a printed format. When we looked at contracts and non union pay – we looked at those details. It was a bit complicated.
Potter – there is a cost to developing this info..
Mary – same question – it looks like some people got significant increases. Governmentsalaries.com allows you to look it up… Brattleboro incomes are low and staff are sometimes 100% higher. Keep a perspective. Brattleboro residents fund this. We don’t get STEP or COLA. Salaries – reduce 1% non union STEP – who does it apply to?
Potter – 45 employees – administrators, maintenance supervisors, DPW facilities supervisor, finance accountant, me, we were all hired with a salary range. I get a 4% increase every year in my contract until the top end is hit. It is a competitive place here, and Keene and Greenfield are paying premiums. I hear you – not everyone can get a raise to afford taxes, but we can’t operate the town government if we can’t hire a finance director. Maybe others feel differently.
Liz – part of your premise – we are hiring staff and paying prevailing wages. I think you say salaries should be depressed because Brattleboro salaries are lower. It doesn’t impact professional salaries as they are hired.
Mary – I understand – but so you are aware of the averages.
Daniel – we are very aware of competitiveness.
Kate O- I want to say this before you get to 58, but this is a blanket thing – when you are doing the FY26 and you are looking beyond that. I’m hoping you can say what you take out in FY26 comes back in FY27.
Daniel – thanks for your spreadsheet – I appreciated it. It couldn’t have been a quick job.
Liz – retiring that note in #3 means $55k every year from FY26 to FY30.
Degray – John you said you got a 4% raise – but last year you got over 7% and over 9 this year.
Potter – those steps are in my contract as well as the cost of living allowance, and that’s what it combines to. I accepted the job knowing this.
Daniel – so we agree on the first page.
Franz – many in the community want to know how department heads are asking for such ig raises… it is the step raise plus the COLA… it isn’t a request by staff, it is a result of how we set out to pay people.
Richard – a month ago I was thinking that most of the department heads, to bring them into the mainstream, I looked at 4 or 5 average salaries in towns in Vermont. Even considering that we are still below. It is something to consider. I was a little surprised.
Daniel – Peter Elwell was working for less than he needed to be, knowingly taking a pay cut because he could afford to, sorry Pater. But we needed to raise it to hire a replacement.
Liz- people take jobs for a variety of reasons and we value staff very much
Daniel – 6-10 – accounting for DPW restructure, increase permit fees , step back from cow power, reduce police expenses, increase police reimbursements… deal killers?
Liz – one of the major portions of the budget increase has been the policy efforts to improve the town and this small reduction in animal control is not worth doing. I’d say no to this item. Okay with he next one and the reimbursements. But no to #9.
Daniel – Peter is nodding his head. Public?
Degray – maybe you have something to replace that with if you think it is a deal buster? If you over expend that line, you are going through the entire police department – reducing by $5,500 is okay. The one that concerns me… if we didn’t ask for these reductions before when you first got the budget.
Potter we just missed #6 in the base budget.
Daniel – 11 through 17… reduce stormwater upgrades, less BML maintenance, postpone data analysis hiring, reduce sustainability operating funds, eliminate equipment in assessors office, reduce office supplies, suspend vacation buybacks.
Liz – the emergency data analysis – I’m okay with that cut but it is a big deal and a cornerstone of our community safety. Maybe state resources can help us again. Vacation buybacks is generous and kind and we should appreciate that.
Daniel – and expect an out of office reply…
Richard – not in favor of cutting off ability to get revenue. Not in favor of 11. 16 could create a lot of inefficiency so I’m agains it.
Liz – #11 and $14 are not specific grants. Other grant opportunities come up and we could dress them on a case by case basis if something viable came up.
Richard – could we counteract damage?
Potter – we could look at budget to actuals or the revolving loan fund.
Liz – this is open and vague.
Peter – I agree with Liz. Removing it from the budget wouldn’t jeopardize the grant? We have a loophole?
Liz – an opportunity.
Franz – we are crossing our fingers.
Daniel – reducing stormwater – I get the crossing our fingers things. I can live with it. Less inclined to live with less maintenance at the library. It is funded by the general fund, but they have Trustee funds. maybe somebody could speak to that?
Potter – just got 1.6 million grant to do library improvements.
Starr L – town owns the building and chips in for maintenance and the grant is specifically targeted. Not for maintenance and we see a lot of wear and tear on the building. We could defer it for a year. We made other cuts, too.
Franz – it will be a recurring theme dealing with matching funds. Not sure how to allocate funds that won’t be used in the future, and there are a number of articles that could jeopardize funding. It’s a bit of a judgement call.
Liz – there is a process – we approve people applying for grants, and now it will be more intentional and specific.
David L -two points – appreciate question of building maintenance. #13 and at other points – I recommended weeks ago that the board adopt a hiring freeze for the town because there will be retirements and resignations. As part of your efforts to hold tight on the reigns, those shouldn’t automatically be filled. It can always be waived in special circumstances, but you should implement it now.
Liz – there are some big retirements and positions that should be filled and out town staff has identified positions we can hold off on, so I’d like to leave it as presented instead of a hiring freeze.
Franz – more about the data emergency analysis – I don’t have a clear idea of what happens without the position.
Potter -these days, data and analytics is critical to find efficiencies and revenue sources and better understanding the world being presented to us. Communities contract out for those services of address them in-house, but we don’t have the skills and capacity to do it. The state has helped get us started. It is a really critical position. But since we haven’t had it yet, we could delay it.
Liz – I think the public needs to know this is an example of an agonizing budget cut deferring this position we all think is very important but reduces the taxpayer’s burden. I want to talk of the seriousness of all these cuts. They lead to a result as a whole. Public needs to take note of the seriousness.
Daniel – we’ve cut $850k of the budget so far…
Mary – if you were to reduce 41 police officers? Let a couple go you could keep this one data officer…
more
Daniel – defer Municipal Center maintenance, defer library equipment maintenance, increase non resident library frees, reduce conferences and memberships…
Liz – good with all
Richard – okay, too.
Franz – this could pose a significant risk to the community if something fails…
Daniel – ok 5 people don’t wan’t to be exposed…
Franz – I talked about maintenance at the fire station.. I have paint in the basement.
Daniel – I don’t love deferring maintenance. This building is riddled with needs. It is embarrassing to see this as it looks. Causes problems down the road. Richard liked it all, Liz liked it all, Franz didn’t like deferring computer maintenance.
Lisa H – this may sound fairly negative. I’m listening and watching and haven’t figured out the list but is making me tense in my stomach. It is almost an exercise in trying to please people with little cuts, but this isn’t in proportion to what Mary is talking about. Our problems are much bigger that $2k of maintenance. The priorities that determined this – I question the priorities and approach entirely.
Daniel – in our previous meetings we were reluctant to take a hatchet to staffing. Little cuts doesn’t seem like much but it can add up. Firing people could lead to other inconveniences. There’s not a good choice here. We asked for the least harmful way to reduce the budget without radical changes. All cuts will change levels of service. You can disagree.
Franz – this is what I said – the road not taken, the steps not included. There are other ways to save money – other service decreases. They are worth considering. It raises difficult questions about town staff and employment in different facilities. A few bigger cuts can be preferable to a bunch of small cuts. If this results… in sufficient savings sustainable over time, but we need to see where we end up. That’s what I’m looking at. Have we gotten where we need to go?
Daniel – the materials are on the website… (click here, scroll down, look for the link, get the PDF…)
Jane – fewer municipal center repairs – if we don’t do some, will anyone get hurt? Is it worth it? Also less maintenance at the fire stations? Let’s paint and not let it build up.
Potter – we may be fine. It is all risk management. No one knows for sure.
Daniel – 24, reduce employee recognition, minimize esteyville bandstand repairs, increase the LMP shelter, eliminate bike capital spending, eliminate traffic safety engineering spending, eliminate town art fund, seasonal staff reductions.. a lot of eliminating in this one.
Liz – 26 and 27 – 27 is my favorite – the traffic safety engineering… I’d hate to see this go. I’d hope that on a case by case basis that if an intersection needs repair we can come ask for engineering. I will be asking for it to come back when finances improve. Also, 26, the bike capital spending – it is a shame but everyone pitches together to reduce the budget so our tax burden is reduced.
Richard – not in favor of 24 – we are asking employees to tightening their belts. I think we should show appreciation, The bikes – when I first got here I wanted to prompted bike safety in town and there is a whole group that is passionate about it, but this is one of the items and step back… if this contributes to someone not paying there taxes – I know the bike folks have been waiting, but let’s defer it a year.
Liz – I feel your pain.
Daniel – ARPA funds – we had $290k… with $100k committed, and some uncommitted fund… one of the proposals is to use that uncommitted special project money but I couldn’t find it. A significant amount of ARPA money was put toward bicycles.
Liz – it is the same premise of having it available for matching funds. When we have a project that requires matching funds we can look at it and see if it is worthy.
Daniel – I agree about it being miserly to reduce employee recognitions. Not worth it.
Peter – not in favor of cutting #26 or #27. We approved the walk bike action plan and it is heading in the right direction. Traffic Safety is similar and helps bike riders. They need to stand put.
Daniel – we’ll need to check in on each one.
Franz – I agree about employee recognition. As we get into sizable difficult cuts, if we don’t include them we will need to find other cuts elsewhere.
Daniel – I agree – we’ll see how we feel about these 58, then we can look at other ways to cut or not cut. Employee recognition should stay?
Liz – HR should look for other ways to show appreciation to staff.
Franz – if HR can do that I’d support it. I have ideas… it isn’t the paint in my basement. If there could be a fundraising campaign by the selectboard. I am willing to discuss deferring stipends if others will…
Richard – we are asking for lots of changes, but too much change at one time isn’t good.
Franz – I’d like to hear more about the bike capital item.
Daniel #25 – remove the Kiiwanas shelter roof project by minimizing esteyville bandstand project. Stays in. Eliminate bike safety and traffic safety funds…
Peter – we are talking about human life . I don’t want a price tag on the safety of our streets.
Richard – if we cut this and someone dies because of it…
Daniel – up until this moment – there has been spending capital on bike safety – pavement markings, bike racks… that work is in place. Eliminating this doesn’t eliminate bike safety.
Liz – it started out being $15k we could split it in half or wait until a case arose that needed traffic engineering. When that situation arises, it would be beneficial for the Traffic safety Commission to access it. Right now it is a blanket sum without a need.
Daniel – why not reduce #26 and #27 each by 50%?
Pete – I make the decision under duress.
Daniel – reduce by 50% rather than eliminate.
Daniel – 28 – reduce Town Arts Fund – have we spoken to them about this idea? (No)
Franz – can we name some things?
Daniel – yes – the fund was there to have grant funds for community based artists in Brattleboro. One project was the High Grove mural, projects at the library. All of these decisions are terrible, and this is another terrible decision.
Franz – we can live without this.
Daniel – anyone else? (yes) I’d prefer to reduce by 50%. No? Ok, Quipp was champion of the arts for a few seconds.
Potter – seasonal help keeps the downtown nice…
Daniel – okay we will not reduce seasonal staff… okay members of the public…
Prudence McK. – I’m advocating you keep full funding for 26 and 27. We underfunded this for so many years. If we don’t keep this improvement going we’ll never get there. It’s almost a drop in the bucket, but we are making improvements. In terms of engineering, any time we do much you do need an engineer to improve an intersection. Progress will be slowed by the reductions.
Millicent C – Tony Duncan – I wrote a letter to you. I like the suggestion of cutting it in half. I wish we could put a lot more into it. We’ve done dribs and drabs and we need a major social change away from cars. Many who could use bikes don’t. The key thing is safety. Western Ave and a couple of main places that need work. Cut it in half for a year but the town needs to commit in the future. There is a need to reduce costs now, but we need to make changes. Climate change will have devastating effects. We need to cut down on fossil fuels and become less car-friendly as a community.
Norm – the ARPA funds – the funds you mentioned are they dedicated to bike safety?
Daniel – walk bike action plan matching funds…
Norm – so town would need to match to get them?
Daniel – these are those funds… if we get a grant for $100k, we can match it…
Norm – and we access it when we get a matching grant> OK. These are difficult decisions to make. I bike all year round. I’m more comfortable than others. Some areas are considerably less safe and some are difficult for pedestrians as well. There is the factor of added costs when people are hurt, but also services, when safety measures are deferred. Many say they don’t feel safe biking here.
Kathleen W – I’m on he coalition for active transportation. I reinforce what the others said about keeping forward momentum on improving bike and pedestrian paths in town. We want people to feel safe. I appreciate just cutting it in half, but if you could keep them, that would be great, too. One question – there are some intersection planned to be worked on – Williams ST and Western Ave, and Western and Guilfrod – surprised to hear there is no specific plan – was I mistaken?
Liz – that report is due this month.
Sue Fillion – those two intersections are being studied… paid for out of the special projects fund. Already committed.
Daniel – we are making a lot of decisions by consensus that will be further deliberation, and then the budget goes to town meeting. They can say yes or no, or change the dollar amount and provide direction about why… town meeting usually adds to the budget, the boards generally follow that advice. There is a lot of advocacy for bike funds so maybe RTM will take it up.
Degray – we spent a lot of time on #24 and as we move ahead the best way to categorize – a bandaid on a sunken chest wound. I agree with Franz – we are making these – there are other things we could reduce and not look at these things. Discretionary spending isn’t where to cut. I do support what you did with 26 and 27 – Liz says it is all for engineering, but the narrative says it is for other things. In my eyes, something needs to be reduced to get to the number we need to get to…the way the discussions are going – standing up for individual pets. Everyone wants to support something, but we want to reduce the budget. If you cut in half, we’ll have to cut in other ways.
Daniel – the board has a role to deliberate, then we’ll need further discussion. We’ll look at other things if we don’t get there.
Peter – I understand what Dick says – Liz speaks about Traffic Safety because she understands it the most, I understand bikes the most. I din’t advocate for the bikes because I sell bikes, it is because it makes Brattleboro a better community. Not making these for financial reasons.
Degray – wasn’t implying that.
Daniel – reduce library budget for books, reduce street signs, line striping, juvenile books, eliminate leaf collection, skate rentals, PAYT revenues
Liz – I don’t bag up my leaves – that’s 20k right there. Street signs and line striping – the state is doing a lot of paving themselves and the state will add street signs and line striping so it isn’t as bleak as it would look. And we need to look at PAYT revenues and put them back in the budget. It was a big loss in our revenue and now it is being returned. I like all these cuts.
Richard – I can accept them but #34 – do we know how many bags of leafs get picked up?
Moreland – no.
Liz – and how many leaves per bag?
Daniel – how many impacted by not picking up leaves. My neighbor puts out 20 bags. Will it be a problem?
Franz – they buy the bags –
Liz – there are yellow bags and purple bags…
Franz – so no component that supports the collection of the bags?
Daniel – have to put leaves in a compostable bag. Any brand. I think this would be extremely unpopular. Just because some selectboard members don’t bag leaves. Some homes have big trees with lots of leaves. Plus, doesn’t our contract provide for this? (Yes – a credit if you eliminate the service)
Potter – you have to look at service reductions or you won’t meet your target.
Daniel – more comments?
Franz – PAYT is important – we need to get that revenue in the budget.
Daniel – the devil will be in the details. Let’s explore it more. The library is one of the most important things happening in the community – cross class, and spending less on books seems wrong-headed.
Potter – this is difficult to cut these services, but would be worse to cut library staff. Better to impact the collection rather than the hours it is open.
Mary – can you still order books? Interlibrary loan?
Starr – what was the question? (repeats) Yes. Libraries don’t loan brand new books. We’ll still buy books with broad popular appeal.
Daniel – so we got to #36 – it would have reduced it by 5% if we said yes to all…
Jennifer S. Line painting. You said the state will do some. Does that impact crosswalks? No? Very important.
5 minute break.
Failed getting to 5%, now trying to get to 10% : )
Daniel – returning from break… now into territory that can lead us to a 10% reduction in the budget. We’ll take the same approach. As it gets later and decisions get harder… let’s take it easy.
Skip global warming solutions, reduce capital roads funding, reduce human services funding…
Liz – I think we had used the global warming solutions fund to various benefits but don’t think the town would be overly compromised by skipping a year. Reducing capital funds for roads – I’d be hard pressed to approve that, but support reducing human services funding.
Richard – I agree – global warming is an okay cut. capital roads is a bad idea to cut that. We’ll spend more in the long run, plus safety considerations.Human Services funding – I could live with it, but if we need to find another place to cut things, it could go to zero and be level funded.
Liz – there is a request that it be 1%
Peter – I agree – 37 we can leave that in as a cut. Reducing roads funding is a terrible idea. It will cost more down the line. I’ll fall in line with human services.
Franz – global warming – what kind of savings do we see if we spend that money – reducing energy consumption – there is an offset there . can it generate enough to cover it?
Liz – over the years it built up to a certain amount – it was used for LMP offsets – refrigerant in the skating rink. I think deferring for a year is a decent thing to do.
Daniel – I’d like to hear more –
Franz – future projects…
Daniel – I’d like to know about FY26 projects.
Potter – I’m sure we don’t have a business plan for this spending.
Sue Fillion – recent uses include – an EV vehicle price difference. Looking at solar installation on Library roof. Possibly ground mounted arrays at WWTP. Electric vehicle vehicle chargers on municipal buildings. Those are in the queue. The global warming fund pays a match for grants.
Franz – so if we maintained it vs stripping money away, would it generate enough electricity to fund this?
Sue – I’d have to get back to you. There is a balance there. There is funding there to do some projects there.
Daniel – the political implications here. Funding was doubled by the last RTM. If we eliminate we’ll have that conversation again.
Liz – maybe maybe not.
Daniel – not in favor of reducing roads, glad global warming has a balance but I’m outvoted, and we’ll have a massive fight over human resources at RTM. Bigger requests than ever before. Maybe allocation can be rethought. Prioritization of funds. It’s hard to do. Expect a big fight.
Liz – I know request are great but 1.4% had been acceptable before…
Daniel – and RTM said 2% so we are choosing to ignore that.
Potter – town attorney asks you put an article on warning to reduce it to a certain percentage and it could be applied pro rata to the list approved.
Daniel – not reducing roads but others will remain.
Degray – I thought 39 was a separate article question to its own – it has been – it would continue to be. RTM doesn’t have line item authority to cut or add money. The next board has to decide. I’m not sure this should be here. You are taking a reduction you don’t have control over… $138k. RTM will set that. There was a discussion of putting number in there but how do you put something in there when you don’t have any control over the amount.
Daniel – I read this as we give the HSC a figure that lines up with eh 2% figure and they are currently using it. In this, we would say no, only spend up tot his…
Potter – the spending in this year’s budget was from the previous approval, implemented in July. The other article at RTM was to directed the selectboard to put 2% of the budget into the FY26 line. So an article could ask to reduce it and another what to do after.
Degray – I’m confused. The money approved in March was already distributed, so we go again in March and it comes around again. You are trying to reduce it by $138k, how do you do that if you don’t have control over that line?
Potter – RTM directed the board to put $40k in the budget. They could vote to reduce it, and if approved, it would lower the tax rate in this budget. If they don’t, then their work is for naught. Our tax rate is a cumulative total of all financial implications at RTM.
Franz – RTM can change the budget total number. There are two articles – what the spending will be year in the next year, but the other is how much to put in the year after that. RTM doesn’t have the authority to order the selectboard to do something n a subsequent budget year. I feel it is unnecessary for us to tell town meeting to tell us to put an amount in the budget a year from now. What we are doing now is we are telling RTM what to tell us to do in a subsequent budget year.
David L – because you use a percentage of the general fund, in years when the general fund goes up, that also increases the amount going to human services. So as long as it is percentage basis there is some inflation built in.
Oscar H – this applies to 37 to also to generally – I know this is a difficult year but I’m a little worried about the number of… maybe you addressed this. I’m worried about the number of one year savings and deferments for year, or one-off sources of unrenewable funding. You aren’t really grappling with the real budget crisis. We’ll just have to do this again next year. This discussion… it just seems like a lot of work put into temporary bandaids and I’m worried about that. I don’t think difficult decisions should be put off because it will only get harder.
Daniel – that comment has been made a lot tonight. We should think about RTM direction, so we will keep roads money in, skip global warming, and reduce human services to 1.4%? Yes? Okay.
Lisa H – if it is so easy to cut global warming solutions, then there were not appropriate constraints on that fund put in. How much could this save us? If it is run properly, it would only be spent on things that s=ve the town energy expenses. We need an accounting of those expenses are. nI wish we had the info to disagree with you and hope you have it the next time the discussion comes up.
Tara O’B – this is hard work you are doing and similar to the human services committee looking at 53 applications. if you are saying you want to go to 1%, does that mean the work we are doing might get kicked back? Or is it going forward to the next committee?
Daniel – the board wanted to reduce it to 1.4% so you would have less to work with this cycle if approved by RTM. The point is fair. The committee is working now and is working with about $500k… by the time we get to that there would have been an article about reducing it.
Potter – something like that.
tara – this work was not done lightly. We went though a similar process – 53 different applications. To have that thrown back to us, and not all of us would be there.. it would not fair well on the floor. I’d ask you to reconsider that. That will be a major decision to make and impacts a lot of people. The decisions were NOT done lightly and I can’t stress that enough.
Liz – Are we moving on the the next page…
Daniel – that was a request to reconsideration
Liz – so it will come back in january to us.
Peter – there are lots of ways this number will change. Final decisions made during RTM.
Franz – Tara’s points are well taken and points out the problems with our current system. At the last meeting we were told to put in amount for a subsequent year and now we are changing our mind. This creates problems with the committee – they don’t know how much they are working with. When we change and need to make a decision – the committee already did all this hard work….
Daniel – the committee should submit their recommendations to us.. it isn’t a done deal.
Pete – this number could change 100 more times.
Daniel – the later we go the more difficult the decisions. Some may need to come back. We are on 40 of 58. Maybe we can get to 52.
Reduce Project Care, reduce..IT coordinator, DPW plow??, split cost between years, pay for ambulance replacements with uncommitted project funds, purchase backhoe with uncommitted funds, switch ASL to advance captioning
Liz – we should keep Project Care in the budget. It is really important It gets people to appointments. We worked to add the money for community safety. It would be mean to take it away.
Franz – and short-sighted. Helping someone when they are ready for it – the money needs to be there. Switching to captioning is appropriate. That enlargers the number of people who use the service. It is a better service.
Richard – 40 – shouldn’t cut it. 42, if we don’t approve that money we run the risk of not having a plow near the ski area and skating rink. We shouldn’t cut it.
Peter – I’m good with it all.
Franz – a little clarification – splitting two cars into two pieces for two years – one will need replacement this year and one the next year?
Potter – we’ll get half funding each of two years then make the purchase of two vehicles.
Daniel – keep current longer…
Franz – so money would sit there unavailable?
Potter – allocated, in the capital fund
Franz – but couldn’t spend it until eh coming year. What if we put the two vehicles…
Daniel – so fund the more expensive one in first year? Coddle consider it at another meeting?
Potter – you aren’t changing the reduction. So, fund the park truck and defer the fire car to FY27?
Franz – unless the other dies first then switch them.
Potter – better to have them on a replacement schedule. It is a risk management thing. Maybe both will be fine?
Daniel – we could just put these as maybes and come back when we have more energy?
Liz – we could keep the budget number the same each budget year.
Potter – if you get through these we could bring back the budget….
Daniel – one requires more money…
Potter – if you want to reduce the reduction – fund the park truck and delay the fire car 2 until FY27.
Liz – let’s agree on that.
Degray – with all due respect – are we doing because the truck is 10 years old or 46k miles – if the truck is fine we have mechanics – why is this even in here? What’;s the criteria? It has low mileage. if it runs fine why are we replacing it?
Potter – we are on a replacement schedule so things are in good shape. Might need to replace the plow on this truck, so should put it on the new truck. Department heads recommended it. I trust them.
Daniel – I’m good with that. Okay. So, where were we. I heard about project Care. We talked about splitting the costs of vehicles. Nothing about uncommitted special project funds.
Liz – we are okay with them. 46?
Daniel – public? Okay, 46… increase skating rink admission by $1. Reduce snowstorm cleanup. Reduce police expenses more, defer coordinator hiring, defer intersection capital funding…
Peter – when was the last time the rink raised prices? (quite a while ago). Okay, I’m okay with that. Not a fan of reducing police expenses. The big one here #49 – we are opening ourselves up to another year of dodging bullets if we don’t act on that one. That one concerns me. We approved that and it has been hanging around and we’ve been lucky so far. An insulating blanket over the area for things on the internet. Needs to stay. Intersection funding – it is our infrastructure. I’d need to hear more.
Liz – we can ask Sue or Dan – the study for the intersection is being delayed. if the report is delayed we could defer the funding for the work.
Peter – how does that play out to the people as it unfolds?
Sue Fillion – the report will be finished this spring.
Liz – so, a process by which you’d study it and come to us with a plan of action, then it could be delayed a couple more months…
Dan Tyler – the next step would be engineering. It would defer the work. There are two intersections there. maybe we do one. Cotton Mill is also on the list.
Liz – will it be OK?
Sue – we have lots of complaints about our intersections…oddly skewed that need infrastructure change.
Daniel – some was temporary – could that kind of thing be accomplished.
Dan T – there is a huge difference in traffic…
Liz – but you haven’t received the report…
Daniel – so you’ll get he report and recommendations, if we didn’t reduce this, you could go ahead and work on this in July of 2025? And if we defer it it waits until July 2026?
Dan T – yes.
Franz – so we will spend the money anyway…
Daniel – no- that shouldn’t be the assumption. Deferring doesn’t mean it will be in the next budget.
Franz – we will never do this is a different question…
Peter – that might be a reality, It could happen.
Franz – we’re saying it is too tough for us to decide…
Peter – not too tough for me. There are safety concerns.
Franz – those terms don’t apply to decisions we are making… this is the type of thing I’ve been bringing up. We are putting something off that we will pay for later.
Daniel – potentially
Peter – I don’t want to push this off and want to spend it. It doesn’t sound like it would be automatically the next year.
Liz – Williams St and Western Ave are huge for traffic safety and are excited for the report. We can say it has been a long awaited need.
Daniel – it is important to recognize all the intersections were not suddenly difficult this year… we’ve dealt with them for years. can it be another year?
Peter – need to leave it in the budget.
Richard – we should leave it in… it will cost more if we wait. The other ones. Not in favor of cutting police. The IT coordinator – how do we exist without this?
Daniel – following on feeling of the IT coordinator. Town’s current IT network is not unmonitored. We have a contract with an entity to provide services.
Peter – we’d continue it?
Dan T – the reduction in snow removal – right now we remove downtown… it would probably eliminate Putney Rd and the Avenue…
Daniel – aren’t some roads plowed by the state?
Dan T – this is the accumulation on the side, not plowing – we’d remove it downtown and leave it on the outskirts.
Daniel – I’m okay with that.
Peter – just to be clear – you wouldn’t remove snow on Putney Rd and the banks on the side.
Dan T – we wouldn’t do it constantly. Just super storms.
Liz – not in favor of more reduction in police spending. Capital funding – these are some of the most difficult decisions. i thought the delay would be natural, I do know these are the most important intersections, so I’d wish to keep this in the budget.
Peter – I agree.
Franz – I pretty much agree. These are all difficult decisions. I could be swayed either way. No IT coordinator could be really bad. Putting off the intersection doesn’t accomplish much. Police need uniforms. Okay with reducing snow cleanup and skating fee increase.
Potter – okay…
Degray – 49 – we have funding for the IT coordinator we have money and we haven’t hired anyone?
Potter – concerned about this year’s budget so we covered other things with that funding.
Degray concerned about this year’s budget? You have a new one starting July 1 and you are concerned and you made a great case for hiring and you haven’t hired them? A ghost employee?
Lisa H – I don’t understand the cut ion plowing. I’m not sure how things are being weighed. New uniforms for police but people without cars needing to walk in snowbanks on Putney Rd? Do we need more information? Did I misunderstand?
Daniel – it isn’t plowing… it is cleanup
Lisa – that’ s what I mean – if you walk Putney Rd… the snow and ice … not good for business and not good for people who live out that way.
Millicent C – I was wondering – could you clarify by furthering reducing police expenses? What would they reduce?
Potter – this one is primarily uniforms, supplies might have to be rationed. Also some auto repairs. More risk management here. Hope we don’t need repairs.
— you mentioned vehicle repairs. How often are cruisers changed out? (5 years) Do you get a warrantee? (Don’t know) I’m up in the air with the IT coordinator. The intersections have been in town for multiple years. Do we have records of accidents at each of these? What is the urgency there? They’ve been this way for 19 years. I don’t see the urgency.
Daniel – moving on…
more
Daniel – 51 and 52 – reduce Human Services to 1% of the budget, and 52 eliminate trash collection ….
Peter – how much more to discuss about the Human Services Committee – we are already in limbo with 1.4%… RTM will decide it. For trash collection.. I don’t see that happening.
Richard – ditto.
Franz – trash collection ditto.
Daniel – same here. That brings us to 53 -58.
reduce bus service, eliminate bus service, cut retain wall funding, eliminate accessible voting machine, delay rehire of finance director, increase day camp fees by $20, don’t open pool for one summer….
Liz – these are the end, and John promised they would be harder. I’d consider reducing the bus service. It was discretionary money. We voluntarily choose to give it to them every year. It is a logical choice. They get most of their money from the state and private sources. Maybe other towns can step up.
Peter — reduce bus service – if we don’t fund this bus service continues?
Sue Fillion – can’t really say what the impact would be. Depends on the grants they get. The state gives information that they won’t have the same amount of funding as before, so towns and local matches should be higher. Their director said he wouldn’t know until he state says what they would fund, but there would be service reductions. We’ve given $50k for a while. We have a lot of routes here. before we ran a bus service and got the grants.
Peter – the bus service serves a lot of people. If cutting $50k will impact it should stay in the budget.. Or should we lean on surrounding towns.
Daniel – Randy says the service can be expanded if there is more money, so if we reduce money, routes could be reduced. I’m not in favor of this.
Peter – people rely on it. I agree.
Daniel – ok. Not doing it. Anything on the list to entertain? Or is it no on everything remaining.
Peter – increase day camp fees by $20 per camper . My thinking. That is a nonstarter for me. It has to stay there.
Liz – reminder that Carol Locate described summer camp kids enjoying their summer vacations.
Kate O’Connor – A wrap up since I sat here. I feel like I live in a different universe. I’m hoping you’d consider the seriousness of the budget in the town. I don’t feel like there is an understanding that there is a budget crisis. Personnel is over 60% of the budget, but not cutting it. No one wants to cut personnel, but FY27 will be horrendous if you don’t heed the financial situation we are in. I feel like it is left unsaid. There doesn’t seem to be an understanding of how bad things are or how bad they will become. It’s not fair to taxpayers and people who live in town. next year there will be even worse cuts to make.
Daniel – and it will be bad if emergency services are cut…
Kate O’Connor – I’m not talking of emergency services. You can do it if you have the will and thought and be thoughtful. We are on a path of going over a financial cliff. No one believes me. You are all rolling your eyes. Really really think about it. Pretty soon all we’ll have is people. I’m not making this up.
Daniel – you will send us suggested staff cuts.
peter – I hear your point. I’m not rolling my eyes. WE had a former selectboard member tell us about cutting 10 jobs. I think that part of the problem and why we are here today. people need to be more proactive not reactive. need to grow the grand list. It is that mind to view this form. Slashing and cutting doesn’t work. Hiring freezes cause people to retire and move on. Cutting people adds responsibility for others. I hear what you are saying. I’m not rolling yes but won’t consider cutting staff.
Daniel – it is 10:15 – interpreters have worked so long. I’m inclined to wrap this up.
Potter – you did good work – able to cut by almost $2 million. Close to 12% lower than Keene and 9% lower than Greenfield – people there pay higher taxes.
Daniel – so you’ll give us a new budget with all of this, and maybe we will advocate for doing more, we’ll get feedback from the community. Then we’ll see where we land.
Selectboard Out of Touch
Thanks to Mr. Davis (I apologize for fumbling his name at tonights meeting) and to Mr. Quipp for opposing the homeless ordinance. The dictation software says the board should be “chained” . That should be “chastened”.
The homeless ordinance was a simplistic police-oriented approach to the issue. While we are glad and proud that the Board is moving forward with unarmed policing that is part of our SAFE Policing plan, the Board should feel duly chastened by the vote of RTM, who repealed the homeless ordinance last Thursday. The Board is also trying to get a new police station downtown. Many will remember BCS led a broadly popular opposition to a new station, reducing the price by three million dollars, but the board managed to move the station to the outskirts eight years ago. Now the Board wants to move it back !?!
The Board is out of touch with the people on the issue of housing and homelessness, so that unfortunately the RTM repeal was necessary. We believe the board is out of touch with Downtown. We have talked with business people, and they were not united for a police crackdown such as the ordinance amounts to. Ms. McLoughin in particular is out of touch and should recuse herself from discussion on this subject, since she is on record saying there is no housing crisis.
We also believe that the board should take a second look at the BCS emergency shelter in RVs. It would be more accurate to ask for a first look, an open-minded look, instead of the heavy-handed prosecution that the board started last February. (2023). The lawsuits were a terrible waste of money, and the Town will fail if it tries any enforcement in Superior Court, as the court injunction found the project safe . Our EHRV shelter is the only proposal for decentralized shelter, away from downtown. For this reason alone the board should open its eyes and inquire.
Brattleboro Common Sense
See brmse.org
Dictation software?
“The dictation software ” is spellcheck changing words written by me, last I checked a human, typing for three hours straight.
Sorry. Corrected manually. : )
– Sincerely, the robot
PAYT
cgrotke, can you catch us readers up on the state of PAYT? I heard that the bags – and bag fees – were going away with the new, more expensive trash collection, but then that the bag manufacturers (!) buttonholed some selectboard members and then something changed. Are bags and bag fees back on the menu after pressure from the purple-bag lobby?
Kinda sorta
Some things I know:
The new Casella system did away with the yellow and purple bags and the fees. The new system is expensive compared to Triple T and was, when adopted, going to be paid for with taxes. Trash, recycling and compost are all included in the new system. No board members were inclined to cut this service or pass it on to residents to do their own hauling.
Plastic bag reps did write to all members of the board but also met with (at least) Franz, who said at a public meeting that they changed his mind on the possible need for bags in the future. I’d have to check but I recall it being roughly the time that they adopted the new Casella contract earlier this year.
There will be new containers of a couple of fixed sizes and some people have already complained about the possible sizes. The aim is to make it easy, eventually, for robot arms to pick up the containers which means they can’t be too small. Compost might have to be handled by human arms for a while (?).
You’ll need to enter your license plate and zone… oh wait… that’s parking….nevermind…
Some new things:
At the most recent meeting (above), the board decided to reconsider the idea of collecting revenue from residents for solid waste pickup. They didn’t decide on anything specific, just that the people in town should pay more. They’d like to hear about options for getting that to happen somehow and asked the Town Staff to give them ideas. They’ll probably grab at something presented in January.
In summary, fees are back on, potentially, but not necessarily bags and not necessarily due to the purple bag lobby, though we don’t know how this ends. Someone may say “keep buying the bags and put them in the new containers” or something.
Board may also try to figure out a way to charge people for leaf pickup, but doubtful that would be in plastic bags (but who knows… this board often surprises).
Thank you!
Thank you very much for the summary, and for the tremendous public service you do by writing up these meetings.