A change at Greenfield’s Town Meeting regarding how it would fund the purchase of a fire tanker could impact when the department is able to buy the piece of equipment.
Residents struck down the approval of purchasing a new fire tanker through a lease-agreement during Town Meeting in March. Select board Chair Robert Marshall said at a regular select board meeting on Thursday night that the vote required a two-thirds majority in order to pass, although it failed by four votes.
After it failed, an amendment was brought to the floor to raise the fire apparatus capital reserve fund from the proposed $40,000 to a total $94,000 so that the select board would have enough money to ensure a purchase of a tanker that residents had voted against earlier in the meeting. The amendment passed. It was noted that the amendment was constructed to provide enough funding to purchase a new tanker if necessary.
The vote changed how much money the town will need to take from its cash flow. A long-term lease purchase would have required the town to pull less money from its cash flow. Funding the tanker through a capital reserve account requires the town to take more money out of its cash flow.
Town Administrator Aaron Patt said small municipal governments like Greenfield run a year behind, which means it’s operating on last year’s cash flow until December when taxes increase. The town’s budget increases before December taxes go into effect.
Treasurer Katherine Heck said at Thursday’s select board meeting that the town will likely have to fund the fire department’s apparatus capital reserve fund “as close to tax season as possible.” That may mean the fire department has to push off taking delivery of the tanker until December.
Heck said the town typically receives about $100,000 within the first 15 days of Dec. 1 taxes going out, which would put the town in a better position to add money to the fire department capital reserve fund.
It’s unclear whether or not a new $237,000 fire tanker that the department is currently eyeing would be available at that time.
“We don’t have a tanker and we haven’t for awhile, obviously the sooner we get one the better,” Greenfield’s Fire Chief David Hall said on Monday, although he added the department has no control over when it receives funds to purchase the piece of equipment.
During the meeting, Heck said the town could possibly work out a plan with the school district to adjust its payments so that it would be able to purchase that tanker sooner. Heck said the town has worked with the district in the past, pointing specifically to a time that a roof on a town building needed repairs, although she said that was considered an emergency situation. The town’s current situation is different because residents struck down the purchase of a new fire tanker and instead approved funding a savings account. She said, “there’s a big difference” between those two scenarios.
“We have to meet all of our legal obligations before we can fund a savings account,” Heck said during the meeting.
Near the end of the conversation, a Greenfield resident spoke to the ever-increasing tax burden.
“This is a real concern for me because I want to spend the rest of my life in Greenfield but I’m probably not going to be able to,” Carele Mayer said. “And it has to do with taxes. I can’t afford to keep my house. And there are a lot of people just like me in this town and every time you get a brand new this and a brand new that, the taxes go up and I say, ‘Oh my God, what do I got … three more years? Four more years?’ And then I’m out of town and that’s a very sad thing.”
She said some people may not think about that when they’re voting because “we’re too old, it doesn’t matter.”
“But it does,” Mayer said.
The select board will hold a non-public meeting on May 1 at 9:30 a.m. It will hold its regular meeting on May 3 at 5:30 p.m.
Abby Kessler can be reached at 924 -7172, ext. 234 or akessler@ledgertranscript.com.