Letter: Re-Elect Christine Hoyt in Adams

Letter to the Editor02:00PM / Wednesday, April 22, 2026Print Story | Email Story

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 Planning Board Cited for Open Meeting Law Violation

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
05:12AM / Wednesday, November 11, 2026

ADAMS, Mass. — The state Attorney General's Office has determined that the Planning Board violated Open Meeting Law by continuing to deliberate on a matter after adjournment.

According to the determination, the violation occurred after adjourning the Jan. 27, 2025, meeting when three board members stayed to discuss permitting concerns for Aisling Mountain Farm, a 22-acre equestrian facility on West Road owned by Kathryn Foley.

The board was ordered to amend its meeting minutes within the next 30 days, to include a summary of the discussion that occurred after the meeting was adjourned, to certify to to the AG's Office that it has done so, and to comply with the Open Meeting Law going forward.

The ruling stems from a complaint filed by Catherine Foster on Aug. 22, 2025, alleging that the board violated the Open Meeting Law during and after its Jan. 27 meeting.

Although filed nearly seven months after the January meeting, the Attorney General's Office said it met the 30-day filing deadline because Foster did not become aware of the situation until it was raised at a July 23 Select Board meeting.

"The Open Meeting Law requires that complaints be filed within 30 days of the alleged violation, or if the alleged violation could not reasonably have been known at the time it occurred, then within 30 days of the date it should reasonably have been discovered," Assistant Attorney General Matthew Lindberg said in the determination.

"The complainant could not reasonably have discovered that the Board deliberated after adjournment of the January 27 meeting until the issue was raised during public comment at the July 23 Select Board meeting. Because the complaint was filed within 30 days of the July 23 Select Board meeting, the complaint was filed timely as to this allegation"

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