DALTON, Mass. — The allocation of American Rescue Plan Act funds has helped mitigate costs in the highway budget the last few years. Fiscal 2026 will be mixed — slight increases because of the end ARPA but offsets using the last of the funds for supplies.

 

Highway Superintendent Edward "Bud" Hall recently pointed out some of those areas to the Select Board in his proposed fiscal 2026 budget. 

 

The board approved line budgets for sewer, snow and ice, cemetery, parks, tree warden, and town engineer and tentatively approved the transfer station budget for $255,513, a $12,370, or 4.62 percent decrease from last year. 

 

The budget included contractual pay increases, bringing the salaries from $48,839 in fiscal 2025 to $50,669 in FY26. 

 

However, Hall decreased the line item for contracted services from $159,900 to $145,200 in FY26 because of a projected reduction in hauling costs. 

 

The station is anticipating transitioning to a new hauler starting July 1. The town previously paid $630 per haul to Springfield but is now negotiating a new contract with Twin Bridges Waste and Recycling in New York, which is projected to be just over $300 per haul.

 

The town is still finalizing contract rates with the new hauler, but the budget reflects an estimate of the lower per-haul costs.

 

Additionally, Hall eliminated some of the rental fees because of purchases made with ARPA funds, including a sewer pump generator and dumpsters. 

 

The sewer budget has a small bump in expenses because of the ending of ARPA allocations, Hall said. The budget is expected to increase to $140,636 in FY26 from $137,649 in FY25, a $2,987 increase. Included in the increases are contractual pay raises. 

 

But using ARPA funds, the department was able to stock up on some materials, including blocks and cement, which brought the material line item down from $10,000 to $7,500. 

 

There are also increases in expenses for repairs related to the sewer flusher. 

 

"The sewer flusher is dated," Hall said, adding that he is anticipating having to come back to the board to propose a capital request to replace it. 

 

The board approved the snow and ice budget in the amount of $170,592. Hall initially presented a budget of $172,592 but offered to level fund the expenses line item, decreasing the amount by $2,000. 

 

This is still an increase from this year's budget of $169,170 because of contractual pay increases. 

 

The board also approved the following budgets, which had increases mainly related to contractual pay increases: cemetery for $102,938, a $2,951 or 2.95 percent increase; parks for $59,859, a $1,502 or 2.57 percent increase; and tree warden for $43,976, a $1,106 or 2.58 percent increase. 

 

Also contributing to the increase in the tree warden budget is an additional $1,005, or 2.50 percent increase, for the purchase and services line item, bringing it from $35,000 this year to $36,005 in FY26. 

 

The board approved the town engineer budget in the amount of $25,000, which is level-funded from FY25. 

 

The Conservation Commission budget was also approved in the amount of $13,331, a significant increase from FY25 because of the inclusion of a salary line item for a conservation agent. 

 

The agent is a new position that voters approved during a special town meeting in October. More information here.

 

The position is budgeted for seven hours a week but if more hours are needed the town can request monies from the reserve fund, Town Manager Thomas Hutcheson said. 

 

The Parks and Recreation budget was tentatively approved for $64,505, a $1,265 or 2 percent increase. The main cause of the increase is related to the rising costs of supplies and utilities. 

 

The expenses line item is anticipated to increase by $1,055 or 7.85 percent, bringing it to $14,500 for FY26. 

 

"The CRA really appreciates the opportunity to provide sports and recreation to our community. It is our passion, and we really enjoy doing it, so we're just really happy to be able to do that," said CRA Executive Director Alison Peters.

 

"I just wanted to give you a real quick update on what we've done this past year. Over 1,500 children played youth sports in the past year; that's year-round. We've been seeing the numbers grow yearly, so we have exceeded the numbers that we had pre-COVID so we are doing really well."