LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The Board of Selectmen on Monday approved the town's proposed fiscal 2023 budget of $10,496,498, a $347,937 increase from last year.

 

"I've had conversations with the departments before I reviewed some of the lines, just to get some clarity on that," said Town Administrator Joshua Lang about the budget. "I think all the departments and committees are very comfortable."

 

Education received the most significant increase of any budget item, going up nearly $250,000 compared to this year. Lang said this increase is primarily responsible for the 3.4 percent increase in the overall budget.

 

"Without the educational increase, we would have approximately a one percent increase," he said.

 

Board of Selectmen Chair John Goerlach said he and the other board members have voiced their concerns with the education increase and are considering asking the district for the number to be reduced for the communities.

 

"Our increase beyond the schools is going to be very minimal. The school is going to be most, if not all, of the cause of the increase," said Selectman Gordon Hubbard.

 

Lang listed several goals for the town in FY23, including retaining staff, organizational development, improving the town's technology and updating town policies.

 

"Thankfully, a lot of these things don't cost any money other than my time and other staff's time, which we're trying to be very fiscally responsible," he said.

 

Lang said the town is exploring potential uses for American Rescue Plan Act funds to pay for some of these projects. Lanesborough received $878,000 in ARPA funds.

 

"What you'll notice in our annual town meeting this year is we don't have to request as many for from free cash to use as far as articles is concerned," he said. "We're going to explore utilization of our existing resources such as ARPA funding."

 

The salaries of several town jobs will be increased based on salary survey data from other similarly-sized towns in the state. Positions with salaries being adjusted include the town clerk, town collector, town treasurer and Council on Aging director.

 

"The positions that we are looking to raise salaries for are very hard to come by in local government in Massachusetts," said Administrative Assistant Makayla Zonfrilli on the salary adjustments. "This is across the board, across the state. People are retiring; there is no knowledge transfer. And so it's very important that we maintain the high-quality staff that we have."

 

Lang proposed two estimated tax rates, $19.80 and $20.60 per $1,000 valuation, but said these rates are just an educated guess and are not final until property values are known.

 

Hubbard thanked Lang for his presentation and credited him for not increasing the budget dramatically.

 

"You've done some good realigning, and you've got some good staff coming in," he said. "People might need to realize that the increase is not due to our spending. It's really due to the school."

 

Lang plans to present the budget to the Finance Committee in April.