Pittsfield residents are looking at some big-ticket items on the ballot this year.
The proposed operating budget, recommended by the board of selectmen and the budget committee, is set at $6.3 million, an increase of 15% over last year. If passed, it would represent a $0.99 increase per thousand dollars of assessed value, around a $396 increase on a $400,000 home.
The default budget is set at $5,767,600, which is an increase of $238,820 compared to last year’s operating budget.
Beyond the budget, if all warrant articles are passed, the town would spend another $3.4 million, bringing total expenditures for the year close to $10 million.
The most costly item is a bond for $2.7 million to remove sludge from wastewater lagoons.
Town Administrator Cara Marston explained that this is a maintenance issue that comes up every 10 to 20 years and keeps the town in compliance with the Environmental Protection Agency.
“Even though our capacity of the treatment system is well designed for what is flowing into it, there is so much sludge in there, it’s really reducing its ability to treat all of the waste coming through it,” Marston said.
The other articles in the warrant regard adding to capital reserve funds, mostly for the fire, police and highway departments.
Marston said most of the increases in the proposed budget are expenses related to the police ($193,000) and fire departments ($183,000), and town infrastructure like highways and roads ($235,000).
Three citizen-petition articles on this year’s town warrant are all seeking to restructure aspects of the town’s administration.
The first requests a transition to a Budget Advisory Committee, away from an official Budget Committee. This change would shift the responsibilities of budget deliberation to the selectboard and town administrator. The advisory committee would be a voluntary or appointed group with no legal authority, acting only to advise the governing body regarding budget matters.
The second requests that voters authorize the selectboard to reinstate a Housing Standards Agency, with two potential options, to investigate complaints and enforce housing standards in compliance with state laws and local ordinances. Marston said that the town previously had an agency, but it was eliminated because landlord-tenant issues were governed by statute. She added that the board of selectmen did not recommend this article.
The last one would change the office of Highway Agent from an appointed position to an elected position with a three-year term. 55 residents of the town signed this petition.
The town’s deliberative session, where residents will discuss those issues before voting on March 10, is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 31, at the Pittsfield Middle High School gymnasium.