BRATTLEBORO-Approximately 25 people turned out Sept. 11 for a Selectboard public budget listening session at Brooks Memorial Library, offering strong and sometimes conflicting feedback for both greater fiscal austerity and more creative revenue generation.
Selectboard Chair Elizabeth McLoughlin opened the meeting by clarifying the current budget is not a "double-digit tax increase," as she noted has been reported.
"The increased tax rate due to the municipal budget was an increase of 8.9%," she said. "When that tax was factored together with the school for the total property tax rate increase, that increase was only 2.7% total overall […]. I just think that it's nice to start with the facts."
The meeting, intended to solicit early public input regarding the fiscal year 2027 (FY27) town budget, comes as the budget process is starting and follows a year when Representative Town Meeting sent the budget back to the drawing board.
A second public listening meeting, to be held in early November, will be held once a draft budget is in place.
Town Manager John Potter said he, his staff, and the board are working on a five-year operating budget projection as well as a 25-year capital budget projection.
He expects both will be ready to share with the public in early November.
The board will meet with fire and police department personnel on Nov. 18, with representatives from the Department of Public Works, library, and Parks & Recreation Department on Dec. 2, and with all other staff on Dec. 16. All meeting are open to the public.
The board will discuss the budget on Jan. 6, 2026, and members are expected to vote to recommend a proposed budget on Jan. 20.
That budget will go to Town Meeting members to debate and decide at Annual Representative Town Meeting on Saturday, March 21, 2026.
Fiscal fears
Overall, those present voiced concerns and suggestions around the need for affordable housing and support for unhoused residents, for reallocation of money and increased transparency regarding the public safety portion of the budget, for strong public support of climate resilience and green infrastructure, for maintaining and expanding access to public spaces and services, and for more inclusive planning and support for small businesses.
Randy Blodgett, a District 7 representative, proposed a "0%" budget increase and discontinuing curbside waste pickup.
"Brattleboro faces a critical juncture due to the confluence of evolving economic conditions, demographic shifts, drug addiction, and unprecedented surge in demand for essential services," he said. "While these challenges can be addressed individually, their combined impact has strained town government and its taxpayers to the brink."
Blodgett continued, saying that "a comprehensive overhaul of town government is imperative."
"This transformation should encompass adopting technology, enhancing efficiency, and attracting new businesses and professionals to create more employment," he added.
Former Selectboard member Richard Davis of the Windham County Heat Fund warned the group that federal LIHEAP (Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program) funds are at risk of not being disbursed to Vermont this year due to federal staffing issues.
He said this could lead to an "epidemic of hypothermia," death, and a massive strain on town emergency medical services (EMS) as residents face a heating crisis.
The issue is compounded by the potential of 45,000 Vermonters losing Medicaid, which will reduce EMS revenue from transports that would no longer be insured.
Susan Bellville, a District 8 representative, called for a "back to basics" approach that focuses on required services, such as public safety and infrastructure.
"We need access to public safety and emergency services, public infrastructure, and water and sewer," she said. "Those are the basics for what this community needs."
Bellville said that the town "should not be in a position where we're facing crisis after crisis around infrastructure."
"Those need to be built into the five-year plan so that we're not suffering from water loss or sewer access for all of the neighborhoods that have that," she continued. "We also deserve safe sidewalks for everybody, [...] we deserve good roads, and that's what our public works department is for."
Bellville also brought up unpaid bills from the town for various services, including fines for code and zoning violation.
"That is something that should really be top of the list," she said.
Advocating to "manage expectations" of residents, Bellville closed her remarks saying, "We have a finite amount of money. We have a finite method of collecting it and resources to get it from.
"We need to manage expectations of the whole community so that we're not trying to appease everybody and making others suffer," she said. "We need to make sure that the whole community is protected and not just certain special interest groups."
Ann Wright strongly suggested a wage freeze or cuts for town employees, including management, noting the direct link between property tax hikes and rising rents.
Former Selectboard member Dick DeGray criticized recent administrative pay increases - 11.3% in FY24, 10.2% budgeted for FY25, and 12.3% proposed for FY2026, according to the RTM Finance Committee's 2025 report - as "unheard of" and unaffordable, and challenged the board to have the "courage" to make and uphold difficult cuts.
Asking the board to be fiscally conservative, Neil Manders, a District 7 representative, pinpointed the Human Services Fund for support of nonprofit organizations and the town pool (budgeted for $88,543 in FY25) as areas to potentially cut.
Specific cost-saving proposals from the public also included implementing a town employee wage freeze and scrutinizing all departmental spending.
Another significant contingent of speakers proposed that the town explore non-tax revenue streams to alleviate the property tax burden without cutting services.
Key suggestions included establishing a municipal internet service, leasing town-owned land, and implementing a local tax on gasoline and short-term rentals. (Only the state can tax gasoline, and short-term rentals have been subject to the town's 1% local-option meals and rooms tax since 2007.)
The board weighs in
"I don't have fixed thoughts on how this budget is going to go," Selectboard member Oscar Heller told those assembled at meeting's end. "Very much of it is going to depend on what we see when we have a draft budget to look at.
"I am hopeful that it's not going to be as stressful as we think, that things will look better and we won't have to make the kinds of hard decisions we made," Heller said, adding that he hopes town officials and constituents "can keep talking like this throughout the fall and the winter."
Saying that cuts aren't his thing, Selectboard member Peter Case said his budget focus is instead to find additional revenue.
"I hear everybody's concerns," Case said. "I appreciate everybody's concerns. There's not a person out there that has spoken tonight whose point hasn't resonated with me and that I look to invalidate. I don't invalidate anybody. That's the way you feel. And if there's one thing I've learned in my life, [it's that] I don't get to tell you how to feel.
"So when you bring something up, it is valid to me," he continued.
"But just know I'm not going to participate in conversations that cut things," Case said. "I'm going to participate in conversations that grow things. So that's my angle on this budget."
This News item by Virginia Ray was written for The Commons.