PETERSHAM – Voters will decide on a 39-article warrant at Monday’s Annual Town Meeting, including two Proposition 2 ½ debt exclusions.
Article 36 seeks to borrow $800,000 for the purchase of a new fire truck to replace a 1990 tanker. Article 37 asks voters to borrow $74,500 for a new truck for the Highway Department.
Town Meeting is Monday, June 1, at 7 p.m. in Town Hall.
In its report, which will be distributed to voters Monday night, the Advisory Finance Committee explains its recommendation for the articles.
“It will take time to fill the town’s orders, and payments for these capital expenses will not start for at least a year for the highway truck and up to three years for the fire truck,” the committee wrote.
The committee further explains that two existing debt obligations – one for a Nichewaug Inn abatement project and another to pay for make-ready work for the town’s broadband system – will be retired over the next few years.
In addition, writes the committee, “Now that the town has successfully paid off the Petersham Center School and Mahar Regional School District building loans, the town is back to pre-FY21 annual principal and interest payment levels.”
Approval of each article requires a two-thirds majority vote. If approved, they will then go to the ballot in a special election requiring a majority vote.
The FY27 town budget totals just over $6.2 million, an increase of nearly $300,000 over the FY26 budget.
The committee points to several factors contributing to the budget increase. The largest driver is the town’s assessment for the Mahar Regional School District, which went from $876,000 this fiscal year to $1,053,000 in FY27. This is due to the increased number of Petersham students attending Mahar next school year.
The committee also cites increases in health insurance and retirement costs due to higher premiums, an increase to grounds and maintenance costs from a new labor contract, and providing additional administrative support for the Selectboard.
“These increases alone,” wrote the committee, “account for over $300,000 in spending that had to be absorbed within the town’s budget for FY27.”
The increase in revenues from property and personal taxpayers is expected to rise from nearly $37 million this year to just over $3.8 million for FY27, representing an increase in the tax rate from $14.24 per thousand dollars of valuation to $14.82. The remainder of revenues needed to cover the proposed budget will come from state aid for education and general government, local receipts from excise taxes and other fees, and broadband enterprise retained earnings.
Monday’s meeting will be preceded by a short Special Town Meeting, consisting of a single article to cover the deficit in the FY26 snow and ice account. The committee recommends the use of about $81,000 in free cash for that purpose.