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Mount Greylock officials met with the Finance Committee on Monday to discuss the budget.

Lanesborough Budget Deliberations Continue: Capital, Mount Greylock

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Town Manager Paul Sieloff's capital plan for 2018 calls for the purchase of two vehicles.
 
Sieloff said the plan originally called for just the purchase of a new backhoe for the Highway Department but last week the town's grader failed. The 1986 Dresser grader was in the capital plan to be replaced in 2019 at a cost of $260,000 and will now be pushed into fiscal 2018. That is coupled with a $115,000 replacement to the 1997 John Deere backhoe in the Highway Department.
 
"We thought that was all we had to do vehicle-wise but a week ago the big grader we had failed," Sieloff told the Finance Committee on Monday. 
 
When it comes to capital purchases, Sieloff tries to use free cash instead of borrowing whenever possible. He, and many auditors, believe in using the one-time free cash allotment each year for one-time payments, such as the purchase of equipment. In this case, there may not be enough free cash to avoid bonding but Sieloff remains hopeful that when the time to pay for the grader comes, there will be free cash available to buy it.
 
"Next year we may not need as much in the overlay and we will not have the grader on the capital plan, so might be able to pay for it," Sieloff said."We could pay it off if by some chance we have a good year from free cash."
 
This year, the town has about $475,000 in free cash. Sieloff is planning to spent about $125,000 of that to pay off the remaining bond payments for purchases made in the past. He is also looking to boost the overlay account, which pays for any differences when there are challenges to property assessments. The town has face repeated challenges, particularly by the Berkshire Mall, over that amount. The town did come to a settlement with the mall for previous years but Sieloff is still keeping money in the overlay this upcoming year just in case.
 
The town manager hopes that the assessment challenges will settle in future years, making more free cash available. The town has about $350,000 certified each year. He also puts some of the free cash into the other postemployment benefits trust fund, an account designed to eventually pay for future retiree benefits. 
 
The town's largest capital payment, the bond for the partial reconstruction and new build of Mount Greylock Regional School, can't be paid with a one-time infusion of free cash. That is the main driver of the school district's budget increase. In total, Lanesborough is being asked to pay 3 percent for Mount Greylock but that entire increase is mostly through the school project.
 
"The operating budget we are bringing is level funded," Mount Greylock Principal Mary MacDonald said. 
 
The total appropriated budget is $13.5 million with Lanesborough paying $3.2 million, which is an increase of $92,500. Williamstown will pay $6.4 million, seeing an increase of 6.9 percent. If it weren't for the bond payment for the new high school, Lanesborough's share would have decreased by 2.5 percent because of the formula based on student enrollment. 
 
"The substantial increase comes in the capital. That is the mortgage for the new building," MacDonald said. 
 
MacDonald said the debt for the locker room project, a reconstruction taken on years ago after the ceiling collapsed, has been closed out. The capital being assessed is all related to the new building.
 
Finance Committee member Steven Wentworth praised the handling of the bonding. The district bonded $30 million right away, locking in at an interest rate of less than 3 percent. There may be a need to bond for more when the final price tag is known, but the majority of the borrowing is locked in. 
 
Despite having a level-funded operating budget, MacDonald said the proposed plan will allow the district to redesign elective course offerings, replace two teachers, and continue to offer the after school bus — a former point of contention in years past.
 
"We are excited about what next year will look like," MacDonald said. 
 
The Finance Committee had little to say about the budget but member Ronald Tinkham did say he'd like the district to focus on lowering the percentage it pays for employee health care. The district pays between 75 percent and 85 percent of health-care plans, depending on the specific plan, but Tinkham would like to see that move down even further. 
 
Interim Superintendent Kimberly Grady said the district is moving in that direction but to go further will take some time. The district just ratified a new contract with employees after going to mediation. That locks in the district for the next three years. 
 
That contract calls for pay increases of 1.5 percent this year, 2 percent next, and 2.5 the following year. The negotiations also included the change from Berkshire Health Group, which eliminated a plan and replaced it with a deductible plan — cutting premiums down but increasing the amount out-of-pocket expenses for workers. 
 
"We just settled a three-year contract. We can think about it and have a plan. I'm hearing you and taking it all in. It was just voted for ratification so it will be a little bit of time before we go back at it," Grady said.
 
Wentworth said because the contract is backloaded, the net will be less than 6 percent throughout the length of the contract. 
 
Meanwhile, in town, negotiations with the Highway Department and the Police Department unions are ongoing, Sieloff said. The proposed town budget at this point does not include any raises for employees but Sieloff expects to recommend 2 percent raises for all. 
 
"I will propose the cost of living raises again and it is up to [the Selectmen] to vote a percentage," Sieloff said. 
 
Giving the non-union Town Hall employees a 2 percent cost-of-living raise has been somewhat contentious with some town officials opposing the raises. Sieloff originally included the raises in the budget, but pulled them out after direction from the Board of Selectmen. Whatever settlement comes from the union negotiations could impact the ultimate decision and budget. 
 
Negotiations may not be done by the time budgets are voted though. Sieloff said he is expecting the Board of Selectmen on April 18 to make modifications to his original budget and then vote it. On May 1, the Finance Committee will be asked to vote. All three budgets will be laid out in the town report for town meeting to vote on. 

Tags: fiscal 2018,   lanesborough_budget,   MGRSD_budget,   school 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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