Great Barrington, Massachusetts has postponed its annual town meeting due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The southern Berkshire County community of around 7,000 has shifted the dates of its yearly assembly to vote on town issues from early May to late June. Selectboard chair Steve Bannon says that if the dates are moved again, it will push the town into a new fiscal year without a finalized budget – necessitating Great Barrington move to a monthly contingency budget.
“A 1/12th budget means you take last year’s budget, divide it by 12, and each month you can spend that portion," said Bannon. "So that means if you were paying things such as software expenses, insurance upfront, for the year, you could no longer do that."
The new dates for Great Barrington’s town meetings are June 22nd and June 25th at Monument Mountain Regional High School. The town has yet to reschedule a canceled April 2nd Board Of Health meeting.
