CLARKSBURG, Mass. — With a total budget up by a modest 3 percent from fiscal year 2026, town meeting cruised through most of the fiscal articles on the warrant without much discussion.

 

But one item caught the eye of meeting members.

 

"Is this an increase from last year, and is there any way to compare it?" a resident asked when the meeting turned to the appropriation for the town's Sewer Enterprise Fund.

 

Yes, Moderator and Select Board member Seth Alexander informed the meeting, the requested appropriation for FY27 represents a 6.9 percent hike from the current year.

 

Higher costs are on the horizon, though.

 

"All the compost over [at the Hoosac Water Quality District], which they used to be able to sell, they're not going to be able to anymore," Boucher said. "They're looking at next year almost a 17 percent increase."

 

Clarksburg is the smallest member of the three-municipality solid waste district. The declining market for compost made from human waste because of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination has been a big topic in Williamstown, site of the HWQD treatment plant, for a couple of years.