Adams Eyes $21M Spending Plan for Fiscal 2027
ADAMS, Mass. — The town is eyeing a budget slightly over $21 million for fiscal year 2027, an increase of 4.5 percent.
The town anticipates having a finalized warrant and budget for town meeting by the end of May.
During the budgeting process, the town administration developed a "level-funded service budget," assuming every vacant position is filled, that is fiscally responsible.
"There's no big changes to organizational charts or operational capacity," Town Administrator Nicholas Caccamo said in a follow-up. He earlier in the process said the goal was to create stability and consistency in the budget.
One of the top priorities is filling vacancies around Town Hall, training the new personnel to become efficient and contribute to operating needs, he said during the Selectmen's meeting last month.
In the last year the town has had a high turnover because of recent retirements and staff leaving to pursue other opportunities.
There is a tight employee market right now making recruitment difficult, Selectmen Chair John Duval said.
The town is solving these vacancies with different methods, such as working under a shared service agreement for the building commissioner position, Caccamo said.
Other open positions include the finance director/accountant, building inspector, police chief, assistant treasurer/tax collector, community development director, and an anticipated retirement in the Department of Public Works in the operational supervisor position.
The positions have been conservatively budgeted at previous rates, maintaining each staff member's prior step or grade, as if the roles were filled full time.
"Because there's so many uncertainties, we're sort of budgeting at like these ceiling thresholds in a lot of places," Caccamo said.
Health insurance for these roles have been budgeted assuming the new personnel picks the family plan, ensuring the funds are available.
A significant factor to the increases in the budget steps from health insurance, with Berkshire Health Group increasing its rate by 8.75 percent.
Other contributing factors include contractual obligations, increases in union salaries, wages, and step raises, a 2 percent cost-of-living adjustment, and school assessments — approximately $6.8 million for Hoosac Valley Regional School and about $1.2 million for McCann Technical School.
Tags: adams_budget, fiscal 2027,
