On Tuesday, the City Council approved a residential tax rate of $17.94 per $1,000 of valuation and a commercial, industrial, and personal property tax rate of $37.96 per $1,000 of valuation.
This sets the residential tax rate for the coming year to $17.01 per $1,000 valuation, a 53 cent decrease. The debt for the Hoosac Valley High School is $1.02 of the rate.
The median property tax bill for fiscal year 2025 is expected to see its lowest year-to-year increase since 2019, the Select Board learned on Monday night.
Cheshire voters on Monday will vote by ballot on a Proposition 2 1/2 override to cover the balance of the town's portion of the Hoosac Valley Regional School District fiscal 2025 budget as well as two debt exclusions.
he town will have to vote on a Proposition 2 1/2 override to raise taxes in order to fund its portion of the budget for the Hoosac Valley Regional School District.
Mayor Jennifer Macksey provided the city budget, school budget, compensation and classification plan and capital improvement plan in a bound document with summaries and graphs explaining expenditures.
Councilors approved a $215,955,210 spending plan that is a 5 percent increase from this year and includes a $200,000 reduction to the $82 million Pittsfield Public School budget. The budget passed 10-1 with Ward 2 Councilor Brittany Noto in opposition.
More than 100 registered voters attended the meeting, which lasted a little more than two hours, to vote on the proposed fiscal 2025 spending plan, board and committee seat procedures, three articles related to short-term rentals, and various spending items.
Tuesday is a big day for Pittsfield, as the City Council will take a final vote on the fiscal 2025 budget, a five-year trash contract, and water and sewer rates.
The Pittsfield Police Department's nearly $15 million budget generated the most conversation, including an unsuccessful attempt to reduce the Shotspotter and body camera line by $250,000. Other departments were supported with little or no discussion.
The City Council breezed through 12 departmental budgets on the third day of hearings for fiscal year 2025. All were preliminarily approved with a unanimous vote.
The annual town meeting sped through the questions on Wednesday night, swiftly passing a total budget of $5.1 million for fiscal 2025 with no comments.
The Fire District on Tuesday will ask voters to approve a fiscal year 2025 budget that includes a 3.5 percent increase in the operation budget over the current year.
The most heavily debated article of the 40 that were addressed by the meeting was decided on a vote of 175-90, amending a flag bylaw passed at last year's town meeting.