Berlin Select Board Sets FY25 Budget, Eyes Override Option for School Assessment Dispute

BERLIN -- March 25, 2024, Berlin Select Board approves FY25 budget line items and weighs Proposition 2½ override for school assessment gap. The board voted 2-1 Monday to set Berlin's capital contribution to the Berlin-Boylston Regional School District at $543,132 for Berlin Memorial School and $38,253 for Tahanto Regional Middle-High School, over one member's objection that the $400,000 HVAC estimate in the Berlin Memorial request lacks any contractor quote. The board also voted 2-1 to raise the HR expense line to $55,000, up from $30,000, to cushion costs from ongoing police union negotiations, with one member warning that advertising the reserve figure "might find its way to $55,000" at the bargaining table. Town Administrator Kristen briefed the board on $400,000 in federal funding for a multi-jurisdictional radio tower and warned that all ARPA projects must be under contract by end of 2024 or face reallocation. The board and administrator agreed to pursue a dual-motion town meeting warrant strategy: one motion at the Finance Committee-recommended level and a second, contingent on a Proposition 2½ override, at the district's higher requested figure, a mechanism the administrator said the Department of Revenue has confirmed is permissible even with excess levy capacity. The administrator estimated the district's operating request would push the levy increase to roughly 7.5 percent, compared to approximately 4 percent last year.