Pittsfield was in an agreeable mood at Tuesday’s annual meeting.
Both school and town budgets were approved with solid majorities during the SB2 ballot vote, and that means Pittsfield will soon have new equipment for its fire and police departments, while the Pittsfield School District’s lunch program got a boost as well.
“It’s always a big relief when the school budget and the municipal budget pass,” said Jim Allard, chair of the Pittsfield Select Board, because the work that goes into finalizing them takes months of hard work. “It’s very gratifying.”
Voters passed a new collective bargaining agreement to give town workers an escalating three-year raise: a total of $21,119 for the upcoming school year, followed by increases of $95,619 and $109,871.
Voters agreed to help the fire department modernize its 1992 fire engine, at a cost of $615,000, with $380,700 coming from the Fire and Rescue Apparatus Capital Reserve Fund, and $234,300 from the Fire Department Pumper Capital Reserve Fund.
The department also will replace its 1994 tanker at a cost of $308,000, minus the $248,000 the town will receive from a federal grant. The remaining $60,000 will be withdrawn from the Fire Department Tanker Capital Reserve Fund.
Other large appropriations included $47,000 for a new police cruiser and $210,000 to replace the old dump truck. The capital reserve fund will pay $208,000, with residents paying for the remaining $2,000.
On the school side, voters agreed to raise $330,000 for the school’s lunch program, which equals a tax hike of $0.34 per $1,000 of assessed property value.
In election news, Sandra J. Adams (290 votes) and Molly Sarah Goggin (259) ran uncontested and earned seats on the school board.
Erica Anne Anthony also had no competitors as she gathered all 367 votes, with no write-ins, in the uncontested race for school district clerk.