Adams Sets Special Town Meeting
ADAMS, Mass. — Prior to the annual town meeting in June, there were several unknowns when the budget was being developed. Now that those uncertainties have been resolved, the town will hold a special town meeting to update the budget.
The special town meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 30, in the Memorial Building gymnasium.
The Select Board will sign the warrant on Wednesday, Sept. 2, at 5 p.m., the required 14 days before the special town meeting.
In the last year, Adams has had a high turnover in employees because of retirements and staff leaving to pursue other opportunities. This resulted in several vacancies during budget season.
Town Administrator Nicholas Caccamo conservatively budgeted those positions at previous rates, maintaining each staff member's prior step or grade, as if the roles were filled full time, essentially building a "level-funded service budget."
The special town meeting will take place before the tax rate is set, allowing the town sufficient time to prepare the tax bills for mailing in early November, with payments due in late November, he told the Select Board last Wednesday.
"During the FY27 budget discussions, we started that process with a number of vacancies and a number of questions with some of our appropriations, particularly around salaries and health insurance. We've since nearly filled all those vacancies," Caccamo said.
Additionally, the town had not yet finalized union contract negotiations with the police and clerical unions, adding another layer of uncertainty to the budget at the time. An executive session was also held Wednesday for union contract negotiations.
"There are still two ongoing union discussions that may have changes to wages for both the police patrol union and the clerical union," Caccamo said.
"So, we have a better sense of what those fiscal needs are, and I had forecasted at that time that the town ought to consider a special town meeting to refine the budget to get it in line with the town's true operational needs."
Other items anticipated on the warrant will be a request for a special tax assessment agreement for Dream Green Recycling.
During a meeting in July, the board spoke favorably about this seven-year amendment to the company's property taxes while it undergoes expansion.
Dream Green Recycling owners intend to renovate and upgrade its facility at 15 Printworks Drive, with an estimated capital investment of approximately $1.2 million to $1.8 million.
This includes the acquisition of the facility and expansion of recycling services including mattresses, electronic waste, metals, appliances, and a longer-term goal of adding solar panel recycling.
The current assessed valuation of the site is $741,000, resulting in $15,938.91 in annual property taxes.
If approved, the incremental tax assessment agreement would provide Dream Green Recycling with a temporary exemption from new real estate taxes during its expansion under the following schedule:
- Fiscal 2027: 100 percent
- Fiscal 2028: 100 percent
- Fiscal 2029: 75 percent
- Fiscal 2030: 75 percent
- Fiscal 2031: 50 percent
- Fiscal 2032: 50 percent
- Fiscal 2033: 25 percent
This expansion will provide an economic benefit to the town with not only the retention of its four full-time permanent jobs in town but also the creation of 12 new full-time permanent positions, the owners said.
More information here.
Caccamo also anticipates that the warrant will have a couple of "housekeeping items" identified by the finance director, including resending unused funds from a 2010 borrowing authorization.
"You didn't borrow the full amount, so we want to take that off," he said.
Tags: fiscal 2027, special town meeting, tax agreement,
