Bernardston Town Meeting to discuss paying off fire truck loan

Attendees of the 2016 Bernardston Annual Town Meeting convene in the Pioneer Valley Regional School auditorium. This year’s Annual Town Meeting will be held Saturday, May 17, at 10 a.m. STAFF FILE PHOTO
Published: 05-14-2025 9:18 AM |
BERNARDSTON — Residents at Saturday’s Annual Town Meeting will be asked to pay off the entire balance of the borrowing for a new fire truck, which voters approved purchasing in 2024.
Town Meeting will start at Pioneer Valley Regional School’s auditorium at 10 a.m.
The major highlight on the 27-article warrant is Article 24, which will have voters consider transferring $587,000 from free cash and $400,000 from the Stabilization Fund to pay off the entire balance on borrowing that was approved at last year’s Annual Town Meeting for a fire engine.
Finance Committee Chair Jane Dutcher said the town has a large free cash balance this year due to money returned by the Pioneer Valley Regional School District and the Franklin Regional Council of Governments. With that money in hand, she said the Selectboard and Finance Committee are recommending paying off the entire balance to avoid further interest payments.
“We want to use [those funds] to the best advantage of the town,” Dutcher said. “We will have to refill our stabilization account in the future, but we will save ourselves, going forward, $40,000 a year,”
Bernardston’s requested fiscal year 2026 budget, which is broken up into several warrant articles, totals about $5.85 million, an approximately $262,467, or 5%, increase over the current fiscal year’s numbers. The biggest driver of these costs is Pioneer’s operating budget increase.
Pioneer’s assessment to Bernardston is $3.51 million, a $299,193 increase. Most of the spike is driven by the state’s minimum local contribution formula, which accounted for $182,682 of that increase.
The school district, during the budget process, explained the formula includes the municipal revenue growth factor, which increases or decreases local contributions toward a foundation budget based on the town’s levy limit, state aid and prior year local receipts. Out of the 351 municipalities in Massachusetts, Bernardston’s municipal growth factor was the 15th highest this year, while Leyden and Northfield came in at 239th and 306th, respectively.
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The first year of interest on the fire engine loan accounts for $45,896, Northfield EMS contracted services are increasing by $57,701 and the Highway Department’s budget request is about $37,082 higher than the previous year.
The budget will be considered in Articles 5 through 10.
Other articles to come before residents include:
■A request to transfer $150,000 from free cash to stabilization accounts, with $50,000 going to the Special Purpose Stabilization Fund for Vehicle Replacement and $100,000 to the Capital Stabilization Account.
■A $13,000 appropriation for an FY26 town audit.
■A $65,000 appropriation and $65,000 free cash transfer, making for a total of $130,000, for the second of 10 payment installments for the Fire Station loan.
■A $15,000 free cash transfer to the Renovate/Construct Town Buildings Account.
■A citizen’s petition from John Lepore to add an October Special Town Meeting to Bernardston’s annual governance schedule.
The full Annual Town Meeting warrant can be viewed at bit.ly/4mcuCN5.
Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.