The Greenfield Select Board voted to cut $242,000 from the 2020 budget to stabilize tax rates in the face of heavy revenue losses at a meeting on Sept. 17. The cuts were necessary for a flat tax rate due to the way COVID-19 and the Crotched Mountain Foundation’s withdrawal from the area impacted Greenfield’s unique financial structure, Town Administrator Aaron Patt said, and a far cry from March, when Greenfield taxpayers voted in a big spending year to proactively tackle looming future payments.
Greenfield residents have done well paying taxes this year so far, Patt said. However, the town relies more on revenues and less on property taxes than other small towns, and the revenue forecasts of more than a million dollars just didn’t pan out due to the pandemic, he said. In addition, Greenfield usually receives about $180,000 through a PILOT agreement with the Crotched Mountain Foundation, but this year they’ll be $45,000 short since the Foundation is leaving town by the end of 2020. In other years, Crotched Mountain’s payments would continue through March, Patt said, and helped subsidize the cost of town services, including the ambulance. Historically, Crotched Mountain School had “probably as many ambulance runs as the town of Greenfield did,” he said.
The cuts mean that the rest of East Road won’t get paved this year as scheduled, and the town won’t spend $50,000 on the gravel roads warrant article. Additionally, the town’s down payment on its new dump truck has been reduced, along with payments to other capital reserve funds. Emergency Order 56, passed by Governor Chris Sununu on July 25, allows municipalities to reduce previously approved expenditures to stay within anticipated revenues.
So far, Greenfield has racked up $34,000 in cleaning and other COVID-19 prevention costs, Patt said, which will be submitted to the state’s GOFERR fund for reimbursement.
“We’re turning over every leaf and stone trying to deliver a flat tax in Greenfield… every time you turn around it’s been some new law, some new responsibility, some new issue you’ve had to take into consideration,” he said.