Great Barrington Joint Select Board/Finance Committee Meeting - March 4, 2026
Selectboard & Town Boards — Wednesday, March 4, 2026
BodyGreat Barrington, Massachusetts
SessionSelectboard & Town Boards
DateWednesday, March 4, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 3:58:06
Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it
Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.
Speaker 1
0:00
Pursuant to MGL 7C 3820.
0:03
Notify after notifying the chair of public body.
0:06
Any person may make a video or audio recording of an open session of a meeting of a public body or may transmit the meeting through any meeting.
0:14
Beginning of the meeting, the chair's almost formal, other attendees of any such recordings.
0:19
Meeting is being recorded by the virtual ed by the town of government and CPSB.
0:24
Any member of the public district to speak at the meeting must receive permission of the chair.
0:28
The listing of agenda items of those reasonably anticipated by the chair, which may be discussed at meeting.
0:35
Not all items listed may in fact be discussed and other items not listed, maybe brought up the discussion to the extent permitted by law.
0:42
So those who got revised agenda after consultational with chair of the finance committee, we're going to do the virtual hills regional school district budget.
0:54
And then we're going to finish from last night.
0:58
The um capital requests.
1:01
Which we have left is town clerk administration, council on aging, planning community development, transit, and free cash service enhancements.
1:11
And that'll be the end of it tonight.
1:13
I don't promise short, but at least we're not going to try
Speaker 2
1:17
to
Speaker 1
1:17
go with the um DPW.
1:20
So we are then meeting April 7th, which will be the rest of the Capitol.
1:27
The eighth will be the public hearing, and then discussion on the eighth and ninth.
1:31
And if you remember, we have the 14th as the original was going to be a public hearing.
1:37
I wouldn't cross that off your calendar.
1:39
We may still meet that night.
1:40
What's the 14th?
1:42
If we're not done, yes.
Speaker 2
1:43
Oh, keep that on.
Speaker 1
1:44
Yeah, keep it on your calendar.
1:46
That way there's no scrambling on the ninth, trying to finish.
Speaker 3
1:52
Okay, so April 7th is us all in finishing when you're going through this.
1:56
Yes.
1:57
The public meeting is the eighth, and what's the ninth?
Speaker 1
1:59
So the public hearing is the eighth.
2:04
Then once that's done, we will convene as a joint board to discuss everything else.
2:13
No, make decisions.
2:16
We need eight, the end of the eighth, the ninth, and possibly the fourth.
2:22
What's the
Speaker 4
2:23
seventh?
2:23
I thought we had
Speaker 1
2:24
11th will be what was supposed to be tonight, the capital.
2:29
We're not going to get to that.
2:31
We're not even going to try.
Speaker 4
2:32
But so are we meeting on the seventh?
Unassigned speaker
2:34
We are definitely meeting on the first.
Speaker 4
2:35
I'm sorry, I'll just
Speaker 1
2:36
make that possible.
Speaker 4
2:37
Okay, definitely meant.
Unassigned speaker
2:38
Yeah.
Speaker 5
2:43
Okay.
2:43
Let's start with Virginia
Speaker 1
2:45
Hills
Speaker 6
2:45
Regional School District.
Unassigned speaker
2:47
Okay.
Speaker 6
2:48
So good, everybody.
2:50
I know you had a long night last night, so I'll try to be uh brief.
2:53
I don't know.
2:54
I'm happy to respond to questions.
2:55
Uh what I thought I'd do, because I know some of you were able to attend and some more.
2:59
You share the abbreviated slide deck.
3:02
I think there are 11 slides, maybe 12 slides that I shared right before the public hearing, which I guess was last week.
3:10
Um that'll give you some context.
3:12
And then some of you have reached out to me individually with questions about enrollment and other things.
3:17
I'm happy to respond to those.
Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Education Funding█████████████████████21%
Public Transportation███████████████15%
Historic Preservation███████████11%
Fiscal Sustainability███████████11%
Budget Equity Analysis██████████10%
Procedural██████6%
Public Engagement██████6%
Economic Development████4%
Workforce Development██2%
Summary of Proceedings
Great Barrington Joint Select Board/Finance Committee Meeting - March 4, 2026\n\nThis was a joint meeting of the Great Barrington Select Board and Finance Committee convened to continue the capital budget review and receive a presentation on the Berkshire Hills Regional School District (BHRSD) budget for FY2027. The meeting also included discussion of several capital requests and town budget strategy.\n\n### Public Comments & Testimony\n- James (84 North Lane Road) praised the South County Connector transit service and opposed implementing a Residential Tax Exemption (RTE), arguing it would unfairly shift the tax burden onto second homeowners.\n- Victor (Lakeview Road) asked about health insurance cost containment and noted that the town participates in Berkshire Health Group for group insurance.\n\n### Discussion Items\n- Berkshire Hills Regional School District Budget: Superintendent Dr. Down presented the FY2027 budget. The School Committee unanimously approved it. Budget highlights include elimination of $500,000 in non-personnel costs, reduction of first and second grade sections, addition of a literacy coach, and significant increases in special education tuition. The gross operating budget increase is 4.37%, with a 7.49% assessment increase for Great Barrington. Enrollment declined from 830 to 815. Discussion covered class sizes, sustainability, potential mergers, and vocational training opportunities.\n- Capital Requests:\n - Archival Storage Feasibility Study ($50,000): To inventory and assess preservation needs for town records and historical artifacts. The study would evaluate storage locations and costs.\n - Council on Aging Vehicle ($53,000): Request for a vehicle for senior outings. Board members debated alternatives, including using school buses or existing transit resources.\n - Planning & Community Development – Master Plan Phase 1 ($50,000): Community visioning exercise as first step towards updating the town master plan.\n - Transit Vehicle Replacement ($18,205 as 15% match): To replace a non-accessible Chevrolet Equinox with an electric accessible van. Ridership on the South County Connector reached 2,304 rides in February 2026, up 50% from October 2025.\n- Service Enhancement Grants: Town Manager Liz proposed six new initiatives: water quality intern, human services grants, arts and culture mini-grants, employee professional development ($30,000), fire department washer/dryer ($2,000), and a computer replacement program. Detailed discussion was postponed.\n- Budget Override and Strategy: Board members expressed concerns over the cumulative tax impact, potential Proposition 2.5 override, borrowing limits, and use of free cash. The Town Manager noted that without an override, the town would need to cut an additional $400,000, use all free cash, and defer capital projects. Some members advocated for a phased approach rather than a large single override.\n\n### Key Outcomes\n- No formal votes were taken on budget items or capital requests.\n- Service enhancement grants will be discussed in detail after the public hearing.\n- A special joint meeting was scheduled for March 19, 2026, to give policy direction to the Town Manager on the overall budget and potential override.\n- The public hearing on the budget remains scheduled for April 8, 2026.
Meeting Transcript
Pursuant to MGL 7C 3820. Notify after notifying the chair of public body. Any person may make a video or audio recording of an open session of a meeting of a public body or may transmit the meeting through any meeting. Beginning of the meeting, the chair's almost formal, other attendees of any such recordings. Meeting is being recorded by the virtual ed by the town of government and CPSB. Any member of the public district to speak at the meeting must receive permission of the chair. The listing of agenda items of those reasonably anticipated by the chair, which may be discussed at meeting. Not all items listed may in fact be discussed and other items not listed, maybe brought up the discussion to the extent permitted by law. So those who got revised agenda after consultational with chair of the finance committee, we're going to do the virtual hills regional school district budget. And then we're going to finish from last night. The um capital requests. Which we have left is town clerk administration, council on aging, planning community development, transit, and free cash service enhancements. And that'll be the end of it tonight. I don't promise short, but at least we're not going to try to go with the um DPW. So we are then meeting April 7th, which will be the rest of the Capitol. The eighth will be the public hearing, and then discussion on the eighth and ninth. And if you remember, we have the 14th as the original was going to be a public hearing. I wouldn't cross that off your calendar. We may still meet that night. What's the 14th? If we're not done, yes. Oh, keep that on. Yeah, keep it on your calendar. That way there's no scrambling on the ninth, trying to finish. Okay, so April 7th is us all in finishing when you're going through this. Yes. The public meeting is the eighth, and what's the ninth? So the public hearing is the eighth. Then once that's done, we will convene as a joint board to discuss everything else. No, make decisions. We need eight, the end of the eighth, the ninth, and possibly the fourth. What's the seventh? I thought we had 11th will be what was supposed to be tonight, the capital. We're not going to get to that. We're not even going to try. But so are we meeting on the seventh? We are definitely meeting on the first. I'm sorry, I'll just make that possible. Okay, definitely meant. Yeah. Okay. Let's start with Virginia Hills Regional School District. Okay.