The meeting at Monument Mountain Regional High School will first address perennial financial housekeeping issues. For fiscal year 2024, the proposed town budget is coming in at around $14.7 million, almost $850,000 more than fiscal year 2023.
“We're trying to catch up on infrastructure. So, there's probably a little bit more infrastructure than people are used to seeing. Plus, with the price of electricity and oil and gas, you're going to see some hefty increases there projected for next year," said selectboard Chair Steve Bannon. “It's going to be probably over 5% higher than last year. But if you look at inflation, and the cost of just living, it's probably below that. But still, it's an increase. We are using $4 million worth of free cash to offset some of the increases.”
Much of that free cash comes from the town’s cannabis revenue.
“I definitely think the Community Preservation Act will provoke some discussion, giving money, which we've done in the past, to private individuals to help with affordable housing," said Bannon. "That's going to be somewhat controversial.”
An issue heavily debated in 2022 is back on the docket this year through a handful of citizens petitions: short-term rental regulation. The proposals would roll back aspects of the bylaw passed at last year’s town meeting. Bannon opposes the petitions.
“I'm prejudiced. I think the short-term rental bylaw passed by a wide margin last year, and we should at least give it another year to continue," he told WAMC. "I think it's a good bylaw. And I think to try to gut the bylaw as a way to roll it back is just wrong.”
Selectboard member Leigh Davis, who will be absent from the meeting due to recent spinal fusion surgery, led the charge for the bylaw in 2022. She wants to see articles 39, 40, and 41 voted down.
“I find it disappointing that the citizens of Great Barrington are being called again to stand up to the corporate interests of Airbnb and those who benefit from skyrocketing real estate prices," said Davis. "So, what I'm asking is that the citizens of Great Barrington join me in defeating this effort that is seeking to undo all that we achieved at last year's town meeting. Last year, we spent eight months crafting a document to address the long-term rental shortage in Great Barrington. And the result of this work was a thoughtfully deliberated bylaw regulating short-term rentals. It passed by a nearly two-to-one margin, which reflects a sizable majority of our residents. And some people that saw their profit margins affected were not happy with the outcome.”
An opponent of the bylaw last year, selectboard member Ed Abrahams is backing the citizens petitions.
“One of the big flaws I saw in what we passed is renters aren't allowed to do it," he told WAMC. "Renters are, tend to be the lowest income people we have here. If you're renting a home and you have extra bedrooms, and it's okay with your landlord, why can't you make extra money so you can afford your rent by doing short-term rental? Right now, the way it's written, if you're a second homeowner, you don't live here, you can rent out your home for 150 days. But if you live here year-round, and you have low income, which is what the most of the renters do, lower income, you don't get to do it. So that seems like a simple fix and it seems like a common sense one. I'm not sure why it went through. I had a lot of problems with what went through, but that was one of the strangest.”
Davis says allowing tenants to rent their homes on a short-term basis is a nonsensical way to address Great Barrington’s housing crisis.
“It turns long-term rentals into short-term rentals, it erodes neighborhoods, justifies landlords charging long-term renters higher rents, and may cost taxpayers more as it logically follows the town would need to rebuild the registration process, which requires extra resources to cross-check not only the property deeds, but rental agreements," she said. "So, what the current bylaw seeks to do is create stable housing and neighborhoods, not short-term rental businesses.”
She’s also opposed to lifting the 150-day limit.
“Article 41 would eliminate the 150-day cap on short-term rental activity and allow investors to purchase unlimited properties to operate a short-term rental," said Davis. "Now, this is a boon for real estate businesses, but it's not good for residents seeking a foothold on the property ladder or homeowners faced with higher property taxes.”
Bannon is preparing for the kind of robust and lengthy community conversation Great Barrington’s town meetings tend to produce.
“I think it's going to be a long night for us tonight," the selectboard chair told WAMC. "And I think there's a chance for that could end up going into Thursday night. We look forward to having a large crowd there tonight.”
The Great Barrington town meeting starts at 6.
