GRANBY — While many municipalities clamor about the upcoming fiscal year’s budget, Granby has been occupied with fiscal year 2025 after its state aid was withheld for failing to close its books last year.
“The Department of Revenue was starting to complain that the town was ignoring its fiscal responsibility,” said Chris Martin, former town administrator, at an April 6 Select Board meeting.
Martin returned to Granby in January to finish submitting reports for fiscal 2025 and help draft a $28.2 million budget for fiscal year 2027, which begins July 1. While he successfully closed the books on fiscal 2025 in February, Martin warns the same problem may repeat when the current fiscal year, 2026, ends.
“You are three months from the close of this fiscal year. You’re nine months behind on posting revenue,” he said.
Municipalities in Massachusetts are required to close out past fiscal years in order to access free cash.
Granby has still not found a town administrator to replace Tammy Martin, who is not related to Chris Martin. Tammy Martin was dismissed from her position in December after six months. During her short stint, she failed to submit end of the year financial reports by the Oct. 1, 2025 due date.
At the Select Board meeting, Chris Martin became “the bearer of bad news,” outlining major financial and municipal organization issues the town had to fix in the near future. Most notably, the lack of communication between department heads and upper administration has stalled monthly reports and left departments without an understanding of their available funds.
“I was shocked at how bad communication has fallen between the upper echelons of management and the department heads,” Martin said. “How can they do their jobs if they’re not getting the information that they need or the assistance that they need to do their jobs? [It] has to change.”
Fiscal year 2027 budget
Meanwhile, the town’s proposed fiscal 2027 budget will leave the school department with a $390,000 deficit below level service. At a School Committee Meeting on April 7, Superintendent Mary Jane Rickson said she will still advocate for a $12.8 million level-service budget, but will meet with the finance committee to whittle down the budget gap.
“We want to make sure our teachers and students are getting what’s best for them, rather than we are doing the best we can with what we have,” she said.
In an unanticipated hike in special education costs, Rickson said the proposed budget does not have a lot of wiggle room for any changes in student population, school choice or new special education service expenses. The School Committee lamented over the frequent changes in student population size and needs and the unpredictability in cost that comes with it.
“How are we suppose to be fiscally responsible and set forth a budget in good faith when we don’t have any control?” School Committee Chair Jennifer Bartosz said.
Martin flagged few major changes to the budget at the Select Board meeting. Inspection and assessment fees jumped $35 and $20 per appraisal. Out-of-district placements to Pathfinder Regional Vocational Technical High School and Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School jumped from 24 students to 30 students. Sewer fees have increased 11.1% for homes along the South Hadley town line as wastewater fees increase for homes in the neighboring town.
Upcoming capital costs
Down the road, Martin said the Select Board will need to decide on a new trash and recycling contract. As solid waste companies move to automated pickup, Granby might need to supply trash and recycling carts for each household as part of trash services.
Waste Management proposed a seven-year agreement that alleviates the cost of supplying carts for the new system, but costs would increase a minimum of 3% to 4% each year, Martin said. Recycling disposal costs too have risen by $30 a ton, putting further strain on a thin budget.
The dam and dredging plan for Forge Pond has been completed, and now the Select Board needs to decide to either fund the dam repairs or remove the dam. Granby received a $1 million state grant to analyze the dam and design a replacement. Now, the town must incur some of the cost to repair or remove it.
The price to replace the dam in $3.3 million, plus future maintenance. The cost to remove the dam is $4.8 million. Martin explains the demolition option is higher because the ecological studies done in the design phase were limited to replacing, not removing, the damn.
“We cannot ignore it because the Office of Dam Safety has indicated that the condition of the dam and dyke are poor and they are expecting the town to address the situation,” Martin said.
This is the second time in two years Martin has returned to Granby to help with the duties he once oversaw. But once Martin finishes his final tasks, he will bid Granby goodbye for good.
“I will be gone, and I will be gone permanently this time,” Martin said.
