Berkshire District Attorney's Office Awarded Over $200 K in Grant Funding

07:30AM / Tuesday, January 14, 2025Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire District Attorney's Office has been awarded $206,779.58 in grant funding to support community initiatives, training, and equipment.

The grant funding will be primarily used to fund youth community programing; provide community training surrounding law enforcement topics; fund training for Berkshire District Attorney staff and the Berkshire State Police Detective Unit; and provide equipment for the Berkshire District Attorney's Office.

"I am thrilled to receive this grant funding once again. This funding enhances community programs and strengthens law enforcement training and resources," District Attorney Timothy J. Shugrue said. "These grants are essential in allowing my office to proactively support initiatives that build protective factors in youth and create safer communities for everyone in the Berkshires."

The Commonwealth awarded the Berkshire District Attorney's Office $125,486.58 from the federal Project Safe Neighborhood grant.

Through this grant funding, the Berkshire District Attorney's Office will:

Provide funding for community programs:
- Partner with Roots Rising to fund program spaces for at-risk youth
- Fund the second year of the Violence Prevention/Voice Projection project. The project works with at-risk youth and aims to elevate their voices. This is led by two licensed clinical social workers, Kelly Heck, LICSW, and Areil Ramirez, LCSW
- Partner with Berk12 to provide community programs aimed at strengthening knowledge surrounding multiple law enforcement related topics
Purchase Equipment for the Digital Evidence Lab housed in the Berkshire District Attorney's Office
Purchase safety equipment for members of the Berkshire County Law Enforcement Task Force

Shugrue also thanked Representative Smitty Pignatelli, who served as a State Representative from 2003 to 2024.

"Smitty's dedicated advocacy for our office, and county as a whole, has played a vital role in securing grant funding for our community," he said. "These grants bring investments back to the Berkshires which at times can be overlooked."

Language Justice Solutions received a portion of the Safe Neighborhoods grant funding.

"Language Justice is the practice that allows each person the right to communicate freely and fully in the language they feel more comfortable with. As we work to move forward with this initiative, we are aware that language barriers affect those seeking services as well as those providing them," Maria Elisa Fuller, executive director of Language Justice Solutions said. "We must continue to support efforts to advance language justice practices. Not only is this a practice of social justice, but it is also crucial for public safety, due diligence, and integrity of an investigation by law enforcement and prosecution."

Roots Rising also benefitted from the Safe Neighborhoods grant.

"We are grateful to the Berkshire DA's office for their investment in our Youth Crews," Jess Vecchia, executive director of Roots Rising, said. "For many teens, our Youth Crews are a vital introduction to the workforce, setting them on a path toward future opportunities and success. It is more than just a job - through this program, our teens develop essential skills for becoming successful adults in an increasingly complex world."

Also, The Commonwealth awarded the Berkshire District Attorney's Office $81,293.00 from the Human Trafficking Enforcement and Training Grant Program funded by the State of Massachusetts. Through this grant funding the Berkshire District Attorney's Office will:

Fund law enforcement overtime for investigations involving suspected human trafficking
Training for Berkshire District Attorney Office staff, including the State Police Detective Unit. The training funded through the grant (as well as travel) includes:
- A workshop focused on the complexities of prosecuting cases involving domestic abuse and how to overcome them.
- Funding for three BDAO staff to attend the national Violence Against Women Conference held in Texas.
- Advanced funding for the State Police Detective Unit to enhance their investigative techniques in regard to digital evidence
Funding for the completion of a language accessibility project through a partnership with Language Justice Solutions, Maria Elisa Fuller and Alex Valdivieso.

Tags: district attorney, grants,

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Lanesborough Property Tax Rate Up 5%

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
01:25PM / Wednesday, November 11, 2026

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The Select Board on Monday approved a single tax rate that will increase the average homeowner's property bill by at least $670.

With a rate of $18.20 per $1,000 valuation, the average single-family home valued at $373,784 will see a $668 increase, and the average commercial property, estimated at a value of $577,990, will increase by $1,125 per year. This rate is 91 cents higher than last year's $17.29 per $1,000 valuation.

"Historically, as part of their annual budget policy, the Select Board and Finance Committee has endorsed a single tax rate option, providing no exemption or discount to a particular property class or group, voting a residential factor of one, which is what we'll do tonight, affirms a single tax rate and proportionate sharing of the tax levy burden between all classes of property," Principal Assessor Ross Vivori explained during the joint meeting with the Finance Committee and Board of Assessors.

This year's levy is $11,760,845, which is a 11.28 percent increase from last year, or $1,192,521.

The town's total taxable value is $648,200,324; about $541 million in residential, almost $9 million in industrial, about $52 million in commercial, and about $44 million in personal property. It is 5.7 percent higher than the previous year.

For fiscal 2027 the max allowable levy is $12,313,803, the town is levying $11,760,845, leaving an excess levy capacity of $552,957. There was more than $6.5 million in new growth, which was described as contributing about $112,855 in tax revenue at the prior year's rate.

Finance Committee member Al Terranova suggested that the rate may change if revenues, such as from the state, changed.

"I just don't want people to look at this and, 'Oh my goodness, I'm going to pay $600 more a year,'" he said. "They would just pick out that one number, because you don't know what the actual number is."

Select Board Chair Deborah Maynard said all the figures are based on the tax recapitulation sheet, which includes estimated revenues and state cherry sheet numbers.

"But there's no way around that, that's the number we're paying," added Select Board member Jason A. Breault. "That's the tax rate."

Ross said property values are rising because people are paying more for homes, but that's not driving the tax rate — town spending is.

"If the [property] value goes up and nothing else changes, the tax rate stays the same," he said. "What's driving the tax rate up is the budget ... everything's gone up and you've got raise the money to operate the town. It is what it is."

In better news, the board accepted what Accountant Angela Garrity agreed was a "healthy" amount of free cash at $949,833.

The board also heard from the public about putting a moratorium on data centers and battery storage facilities at its next meeting as well as Old State Road residents asking about the speed bump removed at the intersection of Target and Old State Road.

The residents said two years ago they had asked for the speed bump and were wondering why they were not warned it was being removed.

The three people said they were afraid to cross the street for their mailbox or walk their dogs. They also said it is very hard for them to leave their driveway at the intersection.

The Select Board could not respond during public comment, but at its last meeting, it decided to remove the speed bump based on information from police that it was "useless" as a deterrent and from Emergency Medical Services Director Jen Weber that it was dangerous when transporting patients.

An ad hoc committee with Weber and Police Chief Robert Derksen and board members Breault and Jeff Walters to discuss the best options on reduce speeding in some areas. Maynard reminded people that community members wanting to serve are being asked to submit citizens' interest form with the town.

Lastly, Alison Dixon from Berkshire Regional Planning Commission and Berkshire Environmental Action Team's Executive Director Brittany Ebeling presented two Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness action grant projects.

One project is the road stream crossing prioritization and assessment program for town-owned bridges and culverts to prioritize crossing replacements. Dixon explained that undersized culverts were identified as a vulnerability in the town's MVP and hazard and mitigation plan. The project is expected to span two years and will notify nearby landowners before field crews work around culverts and bridges. Community members were also invited to share knowledge about crossings they believe have been problematic.

The second project will cover ghost dams. BEAT and BRPC will be working with watershed organizations and a youth team from Greenagers over the next two years locating and documenting unmapped, human-made dams, also called ghost dams, which may pose flood risks. The goal is to create a Berkshires-wide map and connect towns and landowners with information and resources for flood-resilience planning.

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