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Clarksburg OK's Budget Articles, Pulls Litter BylawBy Tammy Daniels
iBerkshires Staff
09:58PM / Wednesday, May 20, 2009
 Clarksburg voters approved 17 articles at Wednesday night's annual town meeting. Left, Selectman Carl McKinney answers a question. |
CLARKSBURG, Mass. — Tempers flared at the annual town meeting on Wednesday night as voters debated whether to raise their property taxes so town employees wouldn't have to take unpaid furloughs.
In the end, all the articles passed as written with the exception of a littering bylaw that the Selectmen motioned to take no action on because of the many questions raised about it. Nearly 100 voters participated, a far cry from the dozen or so who showed up last year.
The town approved a town budget of $917,655.50, a school budget of $2,410,245 and a McCann Technical School assessment $160,652 for fiscal 2010.
The tight town budget included reductions in every department, cut town officials' stipends in half and set two weeks of unpaid days for the 11 full-time town workers. They would be able to file for unemployment for the second week.
"Everybody's got a two-week furlough with no pay," said Selectmen Chairwoman Debra LeFave. "Every office in the town of Clarksburg, every full-time employee is taking a cut — everybody, across the board."
"We have no money. The alternative was to lay people off," she continued. "Unless we want to go broke."
But several voters objected to the furloughs, saying it wasn't fair to the hard-working employees.
"You're dealing with people's lives," said Arthur Lemaire. "You do have people in town who are doing excellent jobs ... you can see from the budget they're not getting paid a lot."
Selectman Carl McKinney said town meeting had the right to make any changes but that replacing the estimated $20,000 would mean raising the tax rate. Town Manager Michael Canales said restoring the cuts would add about $30 or so to the average tax bill.
Even with cuts, the average taxpayer will see his or her payments rise $130 for the coming year; with the restored furlough cuts it would be closer to $160.
Some voters questioned why school employees weren't also subject to reductions; others why teachers' salaries were no longer published in the town report.
School Committee Chairman David Berger said the school district has contract obligations but may begin talks for concessions. The School Committee did spend a lot of time finding savings, he said, adding he was not aware that the school district published the salaries but that that information is readily available at Town Hall.
 Above, School Committee Chairman David Berger talks to voters. Right, Selectmen Chairwoman Debra LeFave. |
"We did cut quite a bit from our budget. We cut five teachers, their positions have been cut and they may not be back next year," said Principal Karen Gallese. "All the sports activities have been cut. We have School Committee meetings and nobody comes. That's when we discuss our budget."
Schoolteachers received a 3 percent raise according to their contract. Superintendent Jonathon Lev, in response to a question, said the teachers were aware that taking the raise would cost colleagues their jobs.
Robert Norcross said he didn't want to pit town workers against school employees but education always seemed to be a sacred cow and "that's not fair to the town ... we got to all suffer together."
McKinney warned that the state's worsening financial condition could mean the board could be back in July asking to cut the budget again. "We don't know where the numbers are going to fall. Ultimately, it's your town — if you want to vote it in and raise your taxes it's your right."
While some voters suggested raising the tax rate to restore the funding, Robert Bona protested vehemently, saying his son and other residents around him had lost their jobs and asking them to pay extra so others wouldn't lose out wasn't fair.
An attempt to amend the town budget to restore the funding never made it to a vote when Bona moved to amend it again to vote it as written. It took several minutes of confusion before Moderator Bryan Tanner said the vote had to be taken on Bona's amendment, which essentially restored the article to its original version.
That amendment passed 42-14, passing the budget as it stood. A few minutes later, the discussion continued over an article to authorize $30,000 in free cash to reduce the tax rate. Again, voters were told that using those funds to prevent furloughs would also raise the tax rate.
Cate Chesbro said she, too, had had her hours and wages reduced at Crane & Co. and seen 70 of her co-workers laid off. Asking town employees to take a week off with no pay, she said, "I don't think that's asking a real lot."
Town Clerk Carol Jammalo, left, swears in new town Treasurer Christa Marsh. |
Voters also approved a ballot article for next year's election that would change the town clerk, treasurer and tax collector from elected to appointed positions. The issue arose after the numerous delinquent sewer payments forced the town to place $30,000 in the sewer fund, costing all of the town's taxpayers.
Mary Giron, who placed the petition on the warrant, said it wasn't targeted at any individual but rather over concerns that anyone serving in those positions be answerable to someone.
Making the jobs appointed would mean their holders would have to be interviewed, qualified and abide by a job description and set hours. "If they don't, you can fire them." Her explanation was greeted with applause and it passed without a single "no" vote.
The litter bylaw was picked apart by voters who wondered if they were going to be ticketed for having backyard fires. The language, taken from a North Adams ordinance, needed to be reworked, admitted LeFave.
"We're going to vote it down and rework it," she said. "We'll try again next year.
In other action, voters:
■ Authorized the Selectmen to pursue a Small-Town Road Assistance Program in the sum of $350,000 to be matched by $150,000 in town funds to be taken over 10 years from cherry sheet funds.
■ Approved a zoning change on town land off Cross Road to allow the construction of affordable housing for senior citizens near the Senior Center.
■ Approved raising the sewer operations budget from $17,500 to $27,500 to allow $10,000 to be set aside toward repayment of $30,000 the town was forced to lend to the sewer enterprise fund.
Berger introduced Lev, the North Berkshire School Union's new superintendent, to town meeting. Lev's former position as special education director was filled by Deb Rosselli of Clarksburg two months ago. Rosselli had most recently worked in the North Adams School System. |
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iBerkshires.com welcomes critical, respectful dialogue. Name-calling, personal attacks, libel, slander or foul language is not allowed. All comments are reviewed before posting and will be deleted or edited as necessary. Comments are closed for this article. If you would like to contribute information on this article, e-mail us at info@iBerkshires.com |
| this meeting was a joke. i cannot believe the people of clarksburg would rather keep their tax bills $30 lower then to not make the town employees take two weeks of unpaid vacation. It is disgusting. In response to saying it isnt a big deal to take the two weeks, you are mistaken. Two weeks can amount to alot of money, more than an extra $30 on your tax bill. and to mr bona, who said his son lost his job and cant afford the $30, if i am not mistaken doesnt your son choose to reside in florida for the winter? i believe that if you have the money to be away from home for half of the year, you can certainly afford an extra $30. And it is very disheartening to hear that a teacher would rather take a 3 percent raise then save a job of a fellow colleague. That is disgusting to hear and makes me think of what kind of people we have become. It is sad to know that the janitor makes alot more money than the road crew. And i love how several people were complaining of how the town doesnt pick up the dirt on the side of the road, you are the first ones to complain about them not being there to do something yet you want them to take time off of work? Seeing as the article passed, i hope that the employees who must take this unpaid leave get to choose when they take it. I hope they take it during the most inconvienent time. I hope the road crew takes their time off during a major snow storm and well see how you like your decision then because you made the vote to enforce the furlough. Smarten up people! $30 is not that much. I think you can forgo your medium iced coffee at dunkin donuts. | | from: angry clarksburg resident | on: 05-21-2009 12:00AM
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