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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Letter: Re-Elect Christine Hoyt to the Select Board

Letter to the Editor

To the Editor:

In her nine years on the Adams Board of Selectmen, Christine Hoyt has made many contributions to improve our Town of Adams. Two areas that are important to me are her experience with Emergency response and advocating for the state to provide more dollars for Adams in Chapter 90 road monies.

When faced with the closure of Adams Ambulance in 2023, Christine worked to ensure that EMS coverage continued for the residents of Adams without an interruption. Her membership on the Northern Berkshire Regional Emergency Planning Committee provided her with a strong relationship with Cheshire that allowed her to work closely with Cheshire officials on press releases, public meetings, and arrangements for EMS coverage.

In addition, Christine has completed Incident Command System and National Incident Management System training in particular for public officials to better understand her role in times of emergencies. She has often been called upon to help disseminate information during an emergency.

Our tough New England winters cause potholes and a lot of damage to our roads. Our town relies heavily on state aid to municipalities through the Chapter 90 bond bill. Christine has advocated at the local, regional and state level for more dollars from the program. She has done this through local conferences, advocacy among our local delegation, advocacy as a member of the Local Government Advisory Commission (LGAC), and testimony provided to the Joint Committee on Transportation.

She also supported the work of the Healey-Driscoll administration's Transportation Funding Task Force and Chapter 90 Program Advisory Group, which led to a 50 percent increase overall to the Chapter 90 program. This included $200 million for the 351 municipalities using the existing funding formula, and an additional $100 million using a formula that removes the population element, which favors rural and small communities like Adams. That meant an additional $130,809 to Adams in fiscal year 2026.

Please join me in voting to re-elect Christine Hoyt on May 4 so that our town can continue to benefit from her experience.

Bernie Pinsonnault
Adams, Mass.

 

 

 

 

 

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