Letter: Re-Elect Christine Hoyt in Adams

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To the Editor:

The financial health of the Town of Adams has improved greatly in the nine years since Christine Hoyt was elected to the Board of Selectmen, and I am voting for her re-election so that Adams will continue to benefit from her expertise.

Here are two examples of better financial management during Christine's tenure on the board.

Our Stabilization Fund has increased by 264 percent. The Stabilization Fund is the state's name for what is considered a savings account for rainy days. When Christine was first elected in 2017, the Stabilization Fund had only $331,968 in it. For the past nine years, Christine has supported fiscal policy that resulted in a Stabilization Fund certified in July 2024 at $1,207,110.


Our residential tax rate has decreased by 27 percent, from $21.37 when Christine was elected in 2017 to $15.63 in 2026. Adams' commercial, industrial, and personal property tax rate has gone down by 12 percent, from $24.55 to $21.51 over that period. Christine has contributed to the decrease in the rate by supporting level-service budgets and conservative budgeting. I know that increases in property values have meant increases in tax bills, but they would have been worse had the rates remained higher.

If she is re-elected, Christine supports a plan to further help the tax rate by addressing the inequity that causes some taxpayers who do not live within the Adams Fire District to pay taxes to support the wastewater treatment plant. Implementing a sewer-use fee means that those taxpayers will no longer pay for sewer services they can't use. And, the fee would allow the town to recoup costs for sewer use by nonprofit properties that don't pay for the sewer services they use because they don't pay property taxes.

Please join me in voting for Christine Hoyt on May 4 so that she can continue working on behalf of our town.

Dianne M Cutillo
Adams, Mass. 

 

 

 

 

 


Tags: election 2026,   town elections,   


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Adams Finalizing FY27 Budget Amid Staffing Uncertainty

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
ADAMS, Mass. — Officials continue to finalize fiscal year 2027's budget ahead of the annual town meeting, navigating numerous unknowns stemming from staff vacancies.
 
During a joint Finance Committee and Select Board meeting on Thursday, a budget of $21,458,601 was presented. 
 
More than half of the budget, not including schools, is for personnel, amounting to $8,721,572, while the remaining $4,075,600.19 is for operational costs.  
 
Education accounts for more than a third of the budget, making up 38.16 percent of the total spending plan at $8,018,218 — a 4.27 percent, or $328,341, increase from FY26.
 
Of that, the Hoosac Valley Regional School District's assessments is $6,814,144 and McCann Technical School is $1,204,074. 
 
The budget can be broken out into several categories, with Finance and Technology, and Public Safety being the second-and-third largest. 
 
Finance and Technology accounts for 15.78 percent of the total budget, allocating to $3,205,469, an increase of 9.32 percent or $273,186. While Public Safety makes up 12.11 percent, amounting to $2,494,514, an increase of 5.23 percent or $124,034. 
 
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