image description

Williamstown Planning Board Chair to Fin Comm: We're Not the 'Enemy'

The chair of the Planning Board last week stopped by a meeting of the Finance Committee to defend the planners' recent activities to promote economic diversity and growth in town.

image description

North Adams Finance Committee Finalizing New Fee Schedule

The Finance Committee is hoping to finally complete a years-long effort to consolidate and update fees and fines that have been scattered throughout the city's ordinances.

image description

Lanesborough FinCom Resigning Over Town Not Following Absentee Bylaw

Finance Committee Chair Jodi-Lee Szczepaniak-Locke shared parting words with the Select Board last Monday after informing the board she would resign after the 2025 budget is resolved.

image description

Lanesborough Finance Chair to Resign After Budget Season

The chair of the Finance Committee is resigning her office and is considering leaving the panel entirely.

image description

Clarksburg Finance Committee OK Accountant Funding

Carla Fosser and Charles "Chuck" Lewitt were appointed earlier in January by Town Moderator Ronald Boucher, filling posts that had been vacant for at least two years.

image description

Lanesborough Finance Committee Has Attendance Problem

Attendance is a problem for the town's Finance Committee and with budget season ahead, a game plan is needed.

image description

Clarksburg Has Finance Committee in Place After 2 Years

He expected to have a third person soon to fill out the committee and would update the board when that happened.

image description

Dalton Finance Approves Interdepartmental Transfers

The original quote for the well repair did not include the cost of prevailing wages that the town is required to pay.

image description

Williamstown Finance Committee Members: Town Needs to Grow Tax Base

Members of the Finance Committee this month called on the town to encourage more economic development in order to increase the tax base.

image description

Dalton Finance Committee Approves Reserve Fund Transfer and Budget Items

The Finance Committee approved a reserve fund transfer of $5,000 to the Town Hall Contingency Salary, among other budget items.

image description

Lanesborough Finance Committee Hopes to be More Involved This Year

The committee has already sent out letters to department heads about returning budgets by Feb. 15. Committee Chair Jodi-Lee Szczepaniak-Locke said she hopes to reduce the budget as much as possible.

image description

Dalton Mulling Raises, New Positions in Future Budgets

Town Manager Tom Hutcheson told the Finance Committee on Wednesday that he is proposing a hike employee wages as a retention tool and add new positions.

image description

Pittsfield Finance Subcommittee OKs TIF for Interprint

The TIF will provide 100 percent forgiveness of the incremental increase in property taxes resulting from the construction of a building expansion in the first and second years and decrease by 20 percent every two years.

image description

Adams Considers Reducing Size of Finance Committee

The committee voted Tuesday to suggest the Board of Selectmen add the change to a special town meeting warrant. Town Administrator Jay Green said there should be a special town meeting sometime in mid-November.

image description

Cheshire Looking to Fill Two Finance Committee Vacancies

The town's moderator, Carol Francesconi, appoints members to the Finance Committee but has said no residents have shown interest in the positions yet.

image description

Dalton Finance Committee Recommends Articles, OKs Transfers

Article 1 authorizes the town to pay $8,643 in sewer and debt expenses not anticipated in time for the annual town meeting and Article 3 would move $2,066 from free cash to the Miscellaneous Grants account to cure a deficit. This is a deficit from a prior year so only a majority vote is required for this to pass.

image description

Dalton Police Department Requests Interdepartmental Transfers

The approvals were made at the committee's April 27 meeting so they could be done before the end of the month to pay bills.

image description

Adams Considering Reducing Size of Finance Committee

Green said finance committees in other communities in the state generally have less than 10 members. He noted that both Finance Committee Chair Carol Cushenette and Vice Chair Timothy R. Burdick favor decreasing the committee's size.

image description

Williamstown Fin Comm Member Makes Case for Putting Costs Before Voters

Dan Caplinger, who has in the past raised concerns about how the town funded settlements with former employees that arose out of a series of lawsuits against the town again stated his case on Wednesday night.