Hearings are set for next week as Great Barrington, Massachusetts develops its budget for fiscal year 2021.
The current budget came in around $30 million. For the coming year, selectboard member Ed Abrahams says he’s expecting the town to have to spend more due to inflation.
“They are making cuts here and there. Several places were asked to be level funded which by definition means service cuts," he told WAMC. "I believe the library will not be getting any more money than they got the year before, which with inflation means they buy less. And it’s like that with most of the departments.”
The budget meetings are February 4th and 11th at 5:30 at Great Barrington town hall. It will be the first time the community of around 7,000 will discuss how to spend revenue raised from legal recreation marijuana sales. Town residents vote on the budget at the May 6th annual town meeting.