Selectboard Special Meeting Notes – Board Reacts To Revised FY26 Budget Up By $420,000

The Brattleboro Selectboard held another in their month of many meetings to focus on decisions around solid waste and to hear the results of their budget decisions thus far.  Those results were not good. They also warned a special Representative Town meeting to vote on the revised FY26 budget, which will face further revision.

As with last week, I’m watching this second meeting of the week but not typing up every word. I’ll summarize again. 

Note to town staff: the zoom meetings have not been requiring a password since the new quarter began.

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Chair Elizabeth McLoughlin began by mentioning that civility broke down at the last meeting, and that members should act as role models for others. She then lectured them on how to behave. She said she would be strict about staying on topic from now on. If it wasn’t germane, it would not be allowed.

Town Manager John Potter reported that speed enforcement costs nothing, nor do we have quotas or speed traps. There are directed patrols of specific areas. As for collaborating outreach teams, all police staff do it when out on calls.  That answered some lingering questions from the previous meeting.

Amanda Ellis-Thurber thanked the police and fire departments for their presentations, and urged support for them. 

Public participation included an observation that the board has been in a time crunch, and long meetings and stress isn’t productive. Snacks were brought and offered to help prevent low blood sugar for this meeting.

Liz said the budget news today was disappointing. 

Potter said there are two sections to the meeting tonight: solid waste, and the budget. 

Solid Waste

Potter gave an overview of the solid waste situation, how we only got one bidder (Casella), how the previous board had decided to stick with a similar trash, recycling and compost system, and how a new automated system is coming in 2026.  He suggested the Town could build a transfer station and hire new staff to get some future savings. Details to come.

Amanda looked forward to more competition and other ideas for savings, and that the issue could be discussed at a future meeting. She wondered if current staff could watch the transfer station.

Liz told them not to discuss contracts in public, and that equity in trash collection is important. Oscar Heller said the property tax burden would be shared. Liz said she means everyone having access to the transfer station.

Moss Kahler reminded the board that the amounts of trash will change if the PAYT bags are no longer used. More tonnage of trash. He suggested they retain pay as you throw bags, and collect the revenue and the incentive to keep things out of the landfill.

Potter said that the revenue for PAYT is currently in the budget, but how it will be done within the new system is still being discussed.

Bob Oeser thought the town could prepare for contract negotiations by not having a strict franchise clause in the contract. Allow residents to contract with other haulers or individuals. Potter said that Casella was not given an exclusive contract for town,

There were some questions and answers about the current contract, rates and tipping fees, carts getting rented out by the Town, sizes of bins, revenues, collecting bottle refund fees, and more.

Amanda wanted people to know it is “an evolving thing and not a done deal.”

FY26

Potter said he brought a draft budget back, with the information requested. It was based on board feedback and revised estimates from staff. The Town’s auditor looked it over and changed some things, too, Most significantly, payroll taxes were underestimated. 

So $25.6 million – 420k higher than March RTM. 

One big change was the addition of three firefighter EMT positions. He told the board that they approved the new positions to reduce overtime costs.  There are new revenue increases in the new budget.  Expenses went down, he said, as some services were reduced or cut.  

Potter said he did more research about bus service and found out Brattleboro pays less (4%) for bus service than other towns, and cutting the $25k payment for transportation could mean more than Saturday cuts.

A General Discussion of the News

Isaac Evans-Frantz observed that they were facing a $419,000 increase over what was turned down. “We all want a budget that will be approved by RTM.” He said they would need to make difficult decisions in a short amount of time, and to look to make the larger reductions.

Peter said they should get it back to what RTM rejected.

Amanda zeroed in on overtime costs. She said they would need to address that and some departments we may need to stop doing work after hours.

Liz was glad the board got the information now rather than later, and that the auditor helped out.

Potter suggested letting RTM decide on the firefighting positions as a different article.

Isaac wondered what it would look like by cutting $500,000. Peter brought revenue ideas. Liz had more cuts. 

Oscar thought the board might want to look deeper and further, if they need to do so. Liz said they could keep meeting on Tuesdays and Thursdays as long is needed.

The Moover

Oscar said he thought the data showed the Town is getting a great deal. Leave it at $50k.

Everyone agreed, but Liz wanted cat licenses to pay for it. “The cats won’t feel the pain.”

Peter asked if they were getting into a cat licensing thing. He had more thoughts on cat taxing.

5-0 to return to $50k bus payment.

Cat Licenses

Peter wanted to reconsider. Liz was thrilled.

Isaac wondered how it related to the agenda. Liz said she could talk about it, it was her discretion, and continued with other ideas for cat shirts and other items. Peter thought this was germane.

Oscar was still opposed to it. Substituting a fee for a tax is not productive policy, he tells the board. “It is window dressing and adds an administrative burden.” He said the projection is only if everyone gets a license, and that the real number will be less. He wondered about the time it would take for staff to manage the program?

Isaac says the Charter talks about dogs, not cats, when it comes to fees. Potter says the Town Attorney says they can do it if they want.

The Town Clerk said her concern was that tracking cats and dogs during town meeting season would require more staff, and animal control might need more staff to do the control. People have told her they wouldn’t get licenses because their cats don’t go out. She asked if the revenue stream was as large as you think, and what does it cost to administer?

Members of the public felt a cat license would be a deficit, would bring new responsibilities, that the town could keep feral cats off the streets, that the revenue projection is a made up imaginary number of $52,000, that it could be money that can’t be counted on, that donations could be made without the cat license fees, that some people are irresponsible with cats,  some dogs bite people, that there should be a budget for an awareness campaign about animal licenses, that this is a terrible idea and ridiculous, why add new fees and labor when cuts are needed, this is a smokescreen and silly, that Brattleboro has a cat loving community, and who will pay the fee for feral cats?

Isaac said it was like the parking system – something imposed on people. “If people are concerned about taxes this will seem like an imposition.” He suggested a warned meeting for cat owners, or a separate article for RTM.

They polled the board one more time. 2-3 Peter and Liz in favor.

Peter said he brought it up to increase revenue and that it would be a revenue source.

Additional Possible Reductions

Potter continued with board suggested reductions – reducing community resilience and energy initiatives could cut hours and save $37k. A full time position would become half time.

Amanda thought this was something they wanted but they couldn’t afford as a town, and that other opportunities exist outside of the Town’s help with energy initiatives.  

Oscar said he would want to hear a fuller presentation, like the police were able to do, before making decisions.

Isaac also wanted to hear from the Planning Department before deciding. Is any grant funding impacted?

Town Manager told them they were out of time and that Planning had weighed in.

Peter said he’d probably quit if a position he was in was cut from full time to half time. Amanda said that isn’t necessarily true for everyone. 

Stephen Dotson, the person impacted, waited patiently online while they discussed him.

Public said they wanted a full time person working on getting grants, that retrofitting is very important in town and residents might appreciate this position for helping them getting information.

Liz said there won’t be any federal grants for years. She said the tax code would change and donors would no longer make tax deductible gifts. Efficiency Vermont can help people with rebates, etc.

Potter said $3 million a year in grants usually comes in, and the Planning Department does a lot of the work.

There was break around 8pm for five minutes then they jumped back in.

Jumping Back In

Stephen Dotson said he was the person being discussed and would answer questions if you want. I can tell you if I would leave if reduced.

Amanda wondered if this should be discussed in the meeting. 

Liz said she didn’t think it was appropriate.

Stephen said he’d be happy to answer questions and that there were a number of grants he is working on. 

Oscar said he would like to know the information before deciding, but this seemed like the wrong way to go about it. Maybe the board could hear more next week, he wonders, before making a decision.  “We heard there were no more grants, but that isn’t true.”  He didn’t see a need to rush to decide this one. 

Isaac suggested a compromise to create a slate of things to look at in the next budget draft, so they could get a bit more information on these topics before making a decision. Liz said she thought he was dragging it out.

Liz said there must be a time tonight to cut the budget, and that the Town Manager could answer any questions about the position. She thought they could vote on it now.

Amanda said she heard the request for a compromise and more information. Could this be tabled, she suggested, because this budget cut will fail if made now.

Peter wanted to decide right away.

Potter said he needed to know what questions the board had.

Liz said it was an agonizing decision and they were adding to the agony.

Peter said he didn’t want to make decisions about cutting staff. “It is highly uncomfortable.”  He said he could push off the planning decision, but no more.

Potter said that every decision from here on in will be like this. Staff don’t like being discussed in public. If you want to find $400-500k, you need to make hard decisions, he told the board.

Amanda said that in her experience, many things at a farm are out of their control and they have to cut staff and do extra work sometimes. She said something is better than nothing, and that this was a reasonable amount to cut. Let’s vote.

Liz is ready to take that as a win, but the public wants to weigh in. A grant expert said people were pivoting and would not go softly into the night, and were looking at different revenue sources now more than ever. The positions could be reimagined to go funding for infrastructure.

There is some silence.

Dick Degray says the whole process is difficult to watch. He thought RTM did a disservice by not giving the board a number to aim at. He says he supports cutting this position for now. Don’t keep putting decisions off, he tells the board. Make the tough decisions!

One suggestion from the public was to make Potter do the work. You might not like the outcome, she said, but the board’s job is to tell Potter what you think can be passed. Staff can make the decisions. Tell staff what you can support and let them do this jobs. This process, she said, was humiliating.

Oscar thought they needed to balance being thoughtful with moving quickly. He said they got the current packet 24 hours ago, and they haven’t been putting off decisions endlessly. He thought they might ask Potter to make the cuts next.

Isaac said he agreed with having Potter make the cuts, and since the board has limited knowledge, a slate of ideas could be created and a total reduction amount could be given to Potter.

Liz said she had a list of items to reduce the budget that she would now share. She lists a bunch of currently unfilled positions, cutting the art fund a bit more, and some other items that total $321k from the latest budget.  (Later that drops to $248k)  “That could be our slate, and staff could see if they have more to cut.”

Liz isn’t sure about all of the items on her own list. She asked the Town Manager for clarification on a few.

Firesigns could be cut, but no one knows what they are. Even the fire department. (Call the Theater, jokes CG)

Amanda said that she isn’t in favor of cutting DPW positions, but is interested in overtime hours. Delaying the plowing of sidewalks, for example, until during the daytime. That sacrifice could be made, she says.

Potter thought DPW could reduce overtime, but eliminating the position could increase overtime.

Public suggested taking large items out of the budget, don’t nitpick over small items, doing a hiring freeze for a year, start next year’s budget now to have time to get al the facts and statistics, protect the sidewalk plows for kids and mailmen, wondering where on the agenda this item is….

Liz says they were trying to create a slate of items to vote on to give direction on the big things to the town manager.

Potter readjusts the total – $182k. You were at $248k.

Will the firefighters be on the slate? Oscar nods yes. Liz says it is a different issue.

Public says they are struggling with cuts without talking about revenue, tell the staff a number, this isn’t what people were expecting, it seems rushed, it feels pinballish, have a discussion of a number you are trying to get to and let them do it, is overtime affecting the budget, what is the overtime rate, sidewalks need to be plowed for blind residents and other disabled people in the community, what modeling has been done about reduction in demand if fees go up, it is unwise to assume it will remain the same if fees go up, not hearing discussion of how the budget went up, how were previous estimates that far off, deferral of positions lead to bigger contract costs, minor savings may not result in real world savings, 3 more firefighters was supposed to lead to savings, and if the board votes, please vote audibly. 

Public also says sewers aren’t sexy, DPW are the grunt workers, not removing snow downtown would lead to complaints, not good for businesses, businesses bring in rooms & meals taxes, was DPW consulted, this would be really bad, DPW was the only department that didn’t go over budget and you want to punish them, DPW overtime is caused by nature,…

Liz pushed again for her slate. Would the board like to vote for those items?

Town Manager says the new total of possible cuts included holding off on the assistant town manager, sustainability coordinator part time, and 5k from the town art funds. $182k total.

Liz thinks that would accomplish something.

Isaac asked about the assistant town manager’s role in assisting with town projects.

Potter said it is ridiculous to talk about hiring freezes in budgets. There is a hiring freeze for the position of Assistant Town Manager, he says. He thought there could be some other options of a lesser assistant that could cost less. He had no recommendation overall.

Liz said this is a big painful cut for John has it impacts his department. “He is offering it up for the good of the town and we should take him up on it.”

Peter says they need to knock money out of the budget, and Potter is the main department head.  He suggests a vote on a single item.

Liz thinks a slate is better.  Oscar wants individual votes.

They agree to a two item slate of $145k. – assistant town manager and $5k from the arts.

As for the part time planning position, 3-2 ? 

A Goal For Tuesday?

Liz says they will discuss revenues. She then says $317k more is needed and is the amount the Town Manager will come back with, she says, to cut $500k total.

Potter says it will come from positions. “Things we do every day.”

Public is confused about human service funding decisions.

Peter wonders if a new RTM could revisit that item. He’s told no.

Kate asks why they want to cut $500k if they increased it $420k. “That means you will increase the budget by about $80k?”

Liz says they have revisited the budget and got new information.

Oscar says they cut $200k but the auditor told them their estimates were low, mostly due to OpenGov projections being off.  He said they didn’t add anything, and that they just need to make more cuts because their numbers have been corrected. “It was not fun to get this memo,” he said, and if this budget had been passed the year would have collected less than what was needed..

Peter agreed it is better to deal with it now, and to add more firefighters.

Oscar said the firefighter decision has not been made.

Amanda hoped the trash contract would come down.

Isaac suggested another 5 minute break, then a discussion about the target reduction and other guidance for the Town Manager.

Liz says she wanted to go until 10 pm, then break. She says ‘what John can achieve’ is a good target.

People were waiting on zoom for quite a while. 

Public wants plowing, wonders if other department heads can come talk before cuts to their department (no), wonders about police department reductions, lowering the tone about how unsafe the town is, the lack of consideration of cuts to the police department, great things in town, more police not being the only path to safety, RTM said no to the budget and it is important to consider why, having geometry homework to get to, the value of the library and seamy about cutting library hours….

The board says no cuts will be made to the library.

Potter says he will cut library hours.

Firefighters

Potter reviewed the plan to hire two or three firefighter EMT positions to potentially reduce $720k in overtime costs. 

Oscar wondered if the overtime number is reliable.

Fire Chief Jay says he did lots of number crunching. He explained the current system and current costs. He thinks adding staff is the only way to reduce overtime hours.

Liz skipped the 10 pm break time.

Peter said it is a cut and dry decision. Hire them and save $200k, or not.

Oscar wanted to think about it for the weekend before making a final decision.

Chief said the overtime rate would go up without the new positions. “If we deleted them, we’d add about $400k in overtime, and it could be more if someone retires.”

Public says it is late and the board is locking in three new positions, defer the decision until next year, eat the overtime for a year…

Liz proposes a break until 10:10

Public wondered if firefighters on leave were in the budget, wondering where the benefits to the new firefighters are in the budget (in another part away from the salaries), new police positions not being filled if unfilled, not understanding about giving firefighters more overtime, being well rested, $380k of wellness days not accounted for in the budget means someone should lose their job, errors being appalling, go to four shifts, you can still have overtime problems…

Isaac said he appreciated that the mistake was caught.  He said senior staff has been missing and the auditor helped find this. He hoped for a culture of accepting mistakes and moving on when they are corrected. He said he couldn’t imaging working 9 months at 56 hours a week without a vacation.

Liz asked if they could give these to Potter as is? Yes.

Revenue

Amanda says she sees some more potential cuts.

More Cuts

Amanda asked about the police clothing at $35k on page 18. Is it correct, she asks.  Potter said the decision was to not reduce it.  How about grounds maintenance, she wondered. Potter said that would be less landscaping.

Isaac said he had a proposal about this very issue.  He says they’d like to reduce the budget by half a million dollars and that they got part way there tonight. He’d like to spread out the burden.  He suggested more guidance to the Town Manager, and let the Town Manager work with department heads.  (He suggests motion to reduce the budget by the $320k. A target reduction of 3-4% in the largest departments.)

Liz says they’ve given approval to that target amount. Further tying his hands has no benefit. Leave it to him to meet the overall goal. I see no point in tying his hands. 

Isaac responded that the Town Manager had wiggle room with a 3-4% goal, and that the board has been looking at specific services and entertaining those proposals, how is it tying hands to give broad guidance around a target number for a budget.

Potter asked if it was a number or specific services to be reduced.

Isaac reiterated the reduction goal be achieved by taking what has already been decided, but look to all other departments to contribute something, and that we look at the three largest departments for a 3-4% reduction in them. Like progressive taxation. It’s not easy, but we have to give some direction.

Liz said this conflicted with what she had been hearing about not cutting police, fire or public works. WE should let the town manager and staff decide where to make sense to make cuts. He said they will be painful cuts, but leave it up to the people who know.

Amanda wants to break in, but Liz objects. Liz says it is without understanding of how the town works.

Amanda said move on.

Oscar said he liked the idea of seeing options from all departments. He thought they would need to talk about people losing jobs. He wanted to hear what it would be like operationally if the next officer not already in the academy is not filled. 

Peter said they need to give a target and $317k is the number. If it is the 30th officer, or the DPW… it is up to them to work out. He wants a budget to pass RTM. Don’t micromanage, he suggests.

Oscar didn’t think it would be inappropriate to know how it would work and what it would mean. Micromanagement is one word, but the buck stops here is another way to put it.

Amanda agreed that it is a different landscape tonight.

Liz asks if they could give Potter a target amount and he has free reign to decide and nothing is off the table?

Amanda wanted to reconsider the vote from the other night. Liz says no.

Isaac said they had a clear vote on a cat tax a week ago, it was brought up again unwarned tonight, a lengthy discussion and another vote. Because there was a change in the financial reality.  And that the board has been asked about specifics in the budget. “I have something to offer now. It isn’t micromanaging as what we’ve been asked to provide.” When we asked, we got information that was important he said. He wanted to comment that they’ve heard lots of things – public safety, compassion, and more. He felt the board needed to give direction, otherwise why be elected. He wanted to provide some broad policy leadership, and that he has spoken to other town managers and previous selectboard members as to where to start.  

Peter Case was watching something on his phone.

Potter seemed to understand to take the most from the biggest departments but nothing is off the table.

Amanda wondered if they could talk about revenue.

Revenue

The clock crosses the 11 pm mark.

Peter shared his list of ways to make money: selling off municipal lots to build up the reserve fund, fees or taxes for AirBnB places, asking nonprofits to contribute more, and town-wide wifi passes for sale, and popup adds for cat taxes or other things.

Amanda thought they were creative ideas. She thought cemetery plot fees could go up.

Oscar wanted to explore underused parking spots rented out as food truck spots.  Pete liked that idea.

Public suggested adjusting the business license so that bigger businesses pay more than the little businesses.

Oscar said there was almost no value to have a business license, so charging more doesn’t get you more.

Public suggests AirBnB ordinances could help with housing availability.

Liz said the housing study a few years ago had information about this topic.

Amanda says the state takes a percentage from AirBnB.

Public suggests board chair was rude to her daughter when she was asking about library cuts, and that Potter said he would consider cuts to the library. You told her to chill out. She left feeling discouraged. And you weren’t entirely factual about not cutting the library hours. Allow people to talk about things that are important to them. I can hear you are about to cut me off…

Liz apologized, but reiterates her argument that they’ve heard it all about the library. She had already been heard, Liz responded.

Public said she was cut off from new things she was going to say, and not to assume what the public are going to say.

Setting RTM

Oscar wondered if they felt good about meeting the 27th. It could be pushed back, he says.

Isaac wondered if town staff feels this is a realistic timeline. They do.  He wanted to make a friendly amendment to add in an overflow date, in case in goes long, but the Town manager suggests RTM can make that decision on the floor.

Oscar said this will approve the articles, so if we have other ideas to put on the agenda we should do it now, such as here’s a special part to vote on.

Potter said the meeting would start at 6:30pm. If it goes to 11:30 that is five hours and it would add to it.

It’s the 27th of May at 6:30pm for RTM’s special meeting.

11:27 pm – they are attempting the record but again fail. : )