Belchertown Town Meeting to vote on $61M budget and new Affordable Housing Trust

BELCHERTOWN — Spring cleaning comes to Belchertown’s special and annual Town Meeting on Monday night as residents vote to tie up the previous year’s finances, and begin anew with a $61 million operating budget for fiscal year 2027, a fresh list of capital items and new financial accounts for future planning.

Special Town Meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Belchertown High School Auditorium to balance the books from fiscal year 2026 and replenish the Stabilization Fund. Last year, the town dipped into the rainy-day money to cover a $900,000 midyear health insurance increase.

Annual town meeting follows at 7 p.m. In addition to the operating budget, the warrant introduces a new round of borrowing for capital projects, authorizes the adoption of conservation land and creates a new Affordable Housing Trust.

“There’s been a lot of questions about new positions, purchasing of capital items [and] borrowing,” Town Manager Steve Williams told the Select Board on April 6. “The bottom line is, it’s all within our existing budget. We’re not asking for an override, we’re not asking for a debt exclusion. We are being very careful how we redistribute our spending to cover these various things.”

New year of finances

A year after a fiscal challenge that necessitated a $2.9 million Proposition 2½ override, Belchertown will see additions, rather than subtractions, to its staffing next year.

The override funds will enable the town to retain six firefighters previously paid via grant funding. Williams explained he moved around money to restore deputy fire chief and police lieutenant positions. Additionally, the town will offer more hours for the grant writer, communications manager and library tech positions, and a finance director and community and economic development planner will allow Williams to focus on economic development and growth.

The School Department’s budget for next fiscal year comes to about $36.3 million, a drop of $950,000 from the current year due in large part to Cold Spring School’s pending closure. About half of these savings comes from the Cold Spring operations and staff, and the rest of the funds are taken from other positions with one-year contracts in anticipation for the grade redistribution.

In another rare occurrence for Belchertown, capital improvements next year will be funded through three separate revenue sources.

The $500,000 approved through last year’s override creates a permanent annual funding stream for capital projects within the operating budget. Another roughly $460,000 in free cash will pay for upgrades to Town Hall meeting room equipment, a vehicle lift and a study of the high school tennis courts.

The third funding source is borrowing. With the town set to pay off its current capital bond at the end of the fiscal year, officials plan to begin a new $2.5 million bond for future projects. In 2021, the Massachusetts Division of Local Services advised the town to maintain or increase its debt service level to help preserve the town’s strong bond rating for future capital needs.

Municipal leadership is already looking to the future. Town Meeting will be asked to establish a capital stabilization fund to put aside money for future projects. No money will go into the account until the Select Board, Finance Committee and Capital Planning Committee discuss a policy after Town Meeting.

Affordable housing

Residents will also decide whether to create an Affordable Housing Trust. According to the proposed bylaw, the trust would contribute to renovation projects for low- and moderate-income residential units. Projects could range from improving safety conditions to energy efficiency upgrades for better climate resilience.

“It’s about preserving, rehabilitating and supporting existing housing. It’s not about creating housing,” Library Director Cyndi Harbeson told the Select Board on April 6. “It’s for owner-occupied units, including mobile homes.”

The Affordable Housing Trust is the seed project of the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness 2.0 program. Similar to its first iteration, the state program awards funding to build climate resilience in municipalities. Once the seed project is launched, state monies are available to fund it. Property taxes from residents won’t be used, Harbeson said.

Housing also comes up later in Town Meeting. The Community Preservation Committee has requested $650,000 to purchase affordable housing restrictions on both the Sportshaven Mobile Home Park and the housing development at the Belchertown State School. The later was a problem for Select Board members Nicole Miner and Jonathon Ritter, who did not want to allocate the funds without a purchase and sale agreement.

“I just don’t think it’s a good idea,” Miner said.

Land use, other articles

Belchertown hopes to add two conservation properties to its growing list of protected land. The first property off Old Farm Road totals 50 acres and comes with an existing trail system. The second parcel of 127 acres is sandwiched between the Quabbin Reservoir and Jabish Brook Conservation Area. All the funds will come from state and federal grants, with Krestel Land Trust purchasing the conservation restrictions.

Another project dependent on grant funding is resurfacing the basketball court at the Chestnut Hill Community School recreation area. The town will apply for a Parkland Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities (PARC) grant to cover most of the $70,000 project. The remaining costs will be funded through revolving accounts and other grants.

Most of the other articles continue with housekeeping, such as fixing the dog bylaw, creating standards for committees and updating salary minimums for town employees.

The full warrant with explanations for each article is on the Belchertown website.