HADLEY — An $18.06 million municipal operating budget that would raise property taxes by about $150 a year for the typical homeowner will be brought to annual Town Meeting later this month.
A year after town officials developed a budget in the midst of the pandemic that kept property taxes flat, the Select Board voted 3-2 at its May 5 meeting to endorse a fiscal year 2022 spending plan for the May 22 annual Town Meeting that is about $300,000 less than an $18.3 million proposal from Town Administrator Carolyn Brennan.
The budget, at $386,084, or 2.2% more than this year’s $17.67 million budget, preserves level services for the town and schools and meets contracted salary adjustments. The budget removes $260,305 from the Other Post Employment Benefits line, leaving that spending at the same $16,890 level as in this year’s budget, and also increases Finance Committee reserves by just $10,000, to $85,000, rather than the $25,000 increase proposed by Brennan.
Select Board members agreed to restore $20,000 to the human resources department so that spending on that function is $127,984, rather than cutting spending from $109,093 to $107,984.
Board member Joyce Chunglo said preserving human resources is important so officials can evaluate how the department is working in its second year of existence.
Board member Jane Nevinsmith, though, said the Select Board should defer to Brennan in developing her first town budget, rather than siding with the Finance Committee.
“I think with a new town administrator we should honor her request and fund the budget as she sees fit and not cut taxes,” Nevinsmith said. “The town needs a great number of things.”
Also opposing the budget, though for a different reason, was member John Waskiewicz, who said it should be level-funded because of uncertainty around revenues.
“We’re still not out of the situation we’re in,” Waskiewicz said. “We don’t know what our finances are going to be.”
Finance Committee Chairwoman Amy Fyden said the town could push off Other Post Employment Benefits spending until fall Town Meeting, when more free cash may be available.
The approved budget would cause a 4% increase in property taxes, to $12.48 per $1,000 valuation, from the existing $12 per $1,000 valuation. The average home assessed at $350,200 would see its bill go from $4,202 to $4,370. That $158 would be smaller than the $187 tax increase of two years ago.
Assessor Daniel Zdonek said that the board may have to discuss this summer the possibility of having a temporary split tax rate so commercial properties are taxed at a higher level. Zdonek said this may be necessary because commercial real estate valuations are plummeting due to the pandemic.
