Greenfield residents came prepared with questions and suggestions at a preliminary town budget hearing Thursday night.  The Select Board meeting room was standing-room only, with about 30 residents attending. 

“We are thrilled that so many people came in person. Thank you all so much for coming, really,” said Select Board Chair Mason Parker. “We especially appreciate people coming to talk to us on person instead of complaining on social media. This is really great you are all here.” 

The Greenfield Select Board added the additional budget hearing to their schedule after a contentious 2024 Town Meeting in which a warrant article for the capital reserve fund passed by just 11 votes. Parker presented the draft of the town’s budget, which is estimated at approximately $ 3.74 million for fiscal 2026. The budget increased $70,524, or 1.92%. 

Parker began the meeting by explaining the limited role of the Select Board in rising property tax bills. 

“This budget, the town budget, does not reflect your whole tax bill,” Parker said.  “Our part of the budget reflects 36% of the total tax bill. The rest of your property tax bills are from county, school, state education assessments, which comprise two-thirds of everyone’s property tax bill, and has nothing to do with the Select Board. We have no control over that amount.”

Parker said the impact of the town portion of the budget will be about $24 per household in 2025. 

“We heard you loud and clear at Town Meeting, and we are not predicting a large increase this year. Our increase will be lowered thanks to the capital reserve fund,” Parker said.  “Things could increase from the ConVal side, but on our end, we are keeping things as flat as possible. We have been forward thinking the past few years and trying to keep things flat.”

Projected increases include adding a new full time person to the DPW, which had been understaffed, and training a new person to take over for Town Administrator Catherine Shaw, who will retire in 2025. Departmental increases included higher fees for hazardous waste at the recycling center, increasing mandatory training for the Police Department and a line item for the Fire and Ice event for the Fire Department. 

Parker praised the town’s decision to purchase new equipment rather than used to equipment in recent years, which has “greatly reduced maintenance costs.” 

Longtime resident Jack Moran asked numerous questions about the budget, including about the increased overtime and part-time wages at the DPW. 

“I’ve lived here a long time, and I don’t see the town changing or increasing as fast as I see my taxes increasing,” Moran said. 

Charles Stevenson asked whether the town has saved money switching to Wilton Lyndeborough from Peterborough Ambulance, to which Select Board member Mike Borden, a captain in the Fire Department, said it had.

“Peterborough is really struggling with staffing,” Borden said. 

Jim McCormick asked why Greenfield has one of the highest tax rates in the state, and whether the town’s nonprofits were contributing payments in lieu of taxes. Select Board member Thomas Bascom said that Greenfield is “significantly different from other towns” due to the high percentage of land owned by nonprofit organizations or the state and federal government.

According to the board’s presentation, the total value of land in town owned by the state or federal government is $18,728,500. Government-owned land includes Greenfield State Park,  the Wapack National Wildlife Refuge and the Powdermill Pond Wildlife Management Area.  According to current assessments, a total of $50 million worth of land in town cannot be taxed.

“This is why Greenfield has the fifth-highest property taxes in the state,” Bascom said

“It does not make sense to tax government properties, because the funds just go right back to the government,” Parker said. 

Greenfield’s acreage-owning nonprofit organizations including the Crotched Mountain Foundation, Seven Hills at Crotched Mountain, Plowshare Farm, the Barbara C. Harris Center, and Brantwood Camp. In answer to questions from McCormick and other residents, Parker confirmed that most of the nonprofits do make a payment in lieu of taxes to the town. 

“But it is entirely voluntary. They are not required to pay it, and there is nothing we can do about that,” Parker said. 

Borden said that Greenfield has to have “larger police and fire departments that we would normally have” because of some of the nonprofit landowners, including Greenfield State Park.

Linnea Stevenson said people in town were “scared.” 

“If the the budget doesn’t stop going up, people are going to have to move, and where are they going to go?” she asked.

Parker reiterated that the increase in property tax bills is due to increases in the assessment from the ConVal School District as well as county and state education assessment increases.

“We are not going to see a relief from property taxes until the start starts adequately funding public education,” said Borden, who served on the ConVal School District Feasibility Study Committee over the summer and  is the Select Board’s liaison to the School Board’s Select Board Advisory Committee. 

The board closed with an appeal to residents to volunteer for town boards and committees. 

“People have a lot of great ideas, and we really appreciate everyone coming us with their ideas, but we need active volunteers,” Bascom said. “That’s what we need to move some of this stuff forward. We need people with expertise who can commit to the time it will take to make things happen.”

For information about volunteering for a Greenfield board or committee, go to greenfield-nh.gov.