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The Board of Selectmen were given the budget Monday night.

Lanesborough Town Manager Presents $10.5M Budget

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Town Manager Paul Sieloff's propose budget calls for a $129,271 increase over this year. 
 
The largest driver to the budget is employee benefits with some $132,221 worth of increases for health insurance, retiree benefits, Medicare, and school employee health insurance. School health insurance is penned in to see a $64,348 increase while retirement benefits are expected to increase by $28,420; group insurance up by $36,773, and Medicare expenses by $2,680.
 
"The overall budget is up a little over $120,000 from last year's budget," Sieloff said. "At this point it is a balanced budget based on the numbers we have now."
 
Health insurance is a particularly large part of the town's $10.5 million budget. Sieloff said Lanesborough spends $1.4 million — or 10 percent of its budget — on health insurance. There are 125 accounts with 45 active employees and 80 retirees. 
 
Sieloff is now suggesting the town look to change the percentage its pays for those retirees on Medex plans. Medex is a supplemental health insurance for those who are on Medicare. Currently there are 57 employees on the plans and the Berkshire Health Group, of which Lanesborough is part, recently voted to change the calculations for a 20 percent decrease in premiums, Sieloff said. 
 
"They are going to get a substantial decrease in their premiums," he said. 
 
Right now the retirees pay 15 percent of the plan and Sieloff is suggesting move that to a split of 75/25 or 70/30. He believes that the town could see some savings without adding to the amount paid by the retirees — essentially splitting the benefits of the 20 percent decrease. 
 
"The 57 people we could modify it without it having any financial effect on them," Sieloff said. "It does make sense for the board to consider modifying the retirement rate."
 
Sieloff said the change wouldn't need approval at a town meeting and lines up with the trends in municipalities across the nation. The Board of Selectmen, however, are tentative about it.
 
"Instead of going after the retirees, can you go after the new hires?" Chairman John Goerlach said. 
 
Changing the split for new hires requires a much more in-depth process. Sieloff said that would be something negotiated into union contracts. Current employees pay 20 percent of the plan, 5 percent more than retirees do. 
 
The Medex change could be implemented easily, Sieloff said, and could ultimately save the town money. Nonetheless, the budget fully funds the plans. 
 
Sieloff's spending plan sees some larger decreases in the Police Department. Salaries are dropping by $20,000 and this year the town isn't paying out accumulated sick and vacation time as it had to last year with the retirement of Mark Bashara — thus saving $47,490. The Police Department is seeing a $4,200 boost to operating expenses. 
 
The two schools account for a little more than $5 million in the budget — excluding health insurance for the elementary school which contributes another $1 million — but are seeing little to no changes. In Sieloff's budget, the Mount Greylock Regional Middle and High School assessment is decreasing by $14,085 while Lanesborough Elementary School is penned in with level funding. Health insurance for the elementary school is going up by $64,348.
 
The McCann Technical School assessment is increasing by $55,967 because four additional students are attending there. In total, the town is looking to pay out $269,896 for McCann.
 
The principal and interest on debt is also increasing by $27,345. The Highway Department is looking at a $13,600 increase for operating expenses and a $7,176 increase for salaries and wages. There is also an $8,000 increase for winter roads — even though this year was mild, last year the town incurred a large deficit and Sieloff focused on building that line. 
 
The town also finished a massive waterline project on Ore Bed Road, which is leading to a $15,000 decrease in landfill monitoring. The town had been budgeting $45,000 for the testing. A well for one of the homes, however, was found to have toxic chemicals and for a number of years the town has had to pay for additional testing inside the homes. One year, the state required even more after another chemical turned up on a test and the town had to dip into reserves to pay that — which is the ultimate reason behind the water line project.
 
The spending plan also calls for a $2,000 increase for veterans' benefits and a $4,138 increase for the health inspector. 
 
"It is a very tight budget but it accomplishes a number of goals," Sieloff said.
 
The budget will be presented to the Finance Committee next week, which is expected to meet with the Police, Fire and Highway Departments: three of the largest budget sectors. Next month, when more numbers and information is received and the budget is adjusted, the Selectmen will make its recommendation.

Tags: fiscal 2017,   lanesborough_budget,   

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Berkshire Wind Power Cooperative Corporation Scholarships

LUDLOW, Mass. — For the third year, Berkshire Wind Power Cooperative Corporation (BWPCC) will award scholarships to students from Lanesborough and Hancock. 
 
The scholarship is open to seniors at Mount Greylock Regional High School and Charles H. McCann Technical School. BWPCC will select two students from the class of 2024 to receive $1,000 scholarships.
 
The scholarships will be awarded to qualifying seniors who are planning to attend either a two- or four-year college or trade school program. Seniors must be from either Hancock or Lanesborough to be considered for the scholarship. Special consideration will be given to students with financial need, but all students are encouraged to apply.
 
The BWPCC owns and operates the Berkshire Wind Power Project, a 12 turbine, 19.6-megawatt wind farm located on Brodie Mountain in Hancock and Lanesborough. The non-profit BWPCC consists of 16 municipal utilities located in Ashburnham, Boylston, Chicopee, Groton, Holden, Hull, Ipswich, Marblehead, Paxton, Peabody, Russell, Shrewsbury, Sterling, Templeton, Wakefield, and West Boylston, and their joint action agency, the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company (MMWEC). 
 
To be considered, students must submit all required documents including a letter of recommendation from their school counselor and a letter detailing their educational and professional goals. Application and submission details will be shared with students via their school counselors. The deadline to apply is Friday, April 19.
 
 MMWEC is a not-for-profit, public corporation and political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts created by an Act of the General Court in 1975 and authorized to issue tax-exempt debt to finance a wide range of energy facilities.  MMWEC provides a variety of power supply, financial, risk management and other services to the state's consumer-owned, municipal utilities. 
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