Voters in the southern Berkshire community of just over 7,000 will approve or deny a fiscal year 2026 budget of around $16.7 million, an almost 3% increase over 2025.
“If you look at Great Barrington's financial situation, which is healthy, we are mirroring most towns in the state where things such as insurance have gone up double digit – in Great Barrington's case, 16% – and that we've had to scale back and try not to go over the levy limit, which, if everything is approved, we have succeeded," explained selectboard chair Steve Bannon.
Town residents will also decide on $13 million in capital spending, over $10 million of which is for street, bridge and culvert repair alone.
Great Barrington’s share of the Berkshire Hills Regional School District budget has increased by almost 6% from 2025, with residents asked to invest over $22.2 million.
“Similar to the town, the school district's insurance – it has the same, Berkshire Health Group – went up 16%, and the school district has more employees than the town, so that was really the cause for their budget to go up,” said Bannon.
Article 13 asks voters to approve or deny a temporary bridge to be installed on Brookside Road over the Housatonic River — a pressing issue for residents left high and dry across the waterway after the Massachusetts Department of Transportation abruptly shuttered the existent structure last May.
“The question is whether the voters will approve $3 million to put in a temporary bridge, a span, so that residents can get from their home to the main part of Great Barrington," Bannon told WAMC. "And why that's important, there's a number of reasons- One is, Eisner Camp is on the other side of the bridge, and they have a lot of visitors throughout the year, but especially in the summer, and there can be medical emergencies there, and then there are a number of people who live on the other side, and police, fire, ambulance all take longer to get there, even with mutual aid.”
Another proposal before residents is a property tax exemption for those over 70 as well as surviving senior spouses and minor children.
“Well, the thinking is the town at this rate, at this time, cannot afford to give large exemptions, but these are small exemptions that will hopefully help people who are aging in place and their property values have gone up, their taxes have gone up," said Bannon. "So, we're just trying to do what we can.”
Two amendments to the town’s zoning bylaws are also before voters. The first concerns how residential properties are developed in Great Barrington.
“For a number of years, the planning board has been working to try and reduce barriers to housing development, because we've got a significant housing shortage, as is common throughout much of the area," planning board chair Brandee Nelson told WAMC. “We have had for a number of years what's called a planned unit residential development, which is able to allow a developer flexibility in layout of housing units. And we recently had an example of that kind of development come before our board, and what we realized in the practical application of that zoning was that it didn't achieve the goals that we really had outlined for that style of development. It allows things to be spread out and consume a lot of area, whereas we'd like to allow development to be clustered so that the cost of development is lower and to allow preservation of open space.”
Hence, the new approach to zoning.
“So, what we're proposing for town meeting is to replace the planned unit residential development with a residential cluster development, which more specifically focuses the development footprint in a smaller area,” Nelson continued.
She says the strategy will allow for developers to utilize existent properties with sewer and water lines already connected to bring new housing to the community.
“We hear from developers that the cost of infrastructure is very expensive," said the chair. "And so, we can move in a direction that tries to find a balance between protecting open space and making our development more compact and utilizing our existing infrastructure- Seems like a win-win for everybody.”
The second zoning issue concerns the campus of Bard College at Simon’s Rock, which will be shuttered and vacated after more than 60 years of operation at the end of the spring semester. The college is relocating to its main campus in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.
“The departure of Simon's Rock from Great Barrington is a significant concern for both the planning board and the town board," said Nelson. "And what people may not realize is that the configuration of the campus is allowed under an educational exemption in Massachusetts land use regulation, and so, when the educational use goes away, then all of the existing buildings become non-conforming, and in recognizing that, the planning board had a number of discussions about how we could establish zoning tools in the town to allow for the adaptive reuse of the campus.”
With the campus’s fate in limbo, Nelson says the proposed zoning amendment will make it easier for the property to find new life.
“The overlay will provide the flexibility for an adaptive for use," she told WAMC. "And best-case scenario is, we see some interest in the campus- And I think Bard College would be supportive of seeing interest in the campus as well. It benefits no one for that campus to be a vacant piece of property, and we'd like to see that space remain vibrant and utilized in the community for the number of different types of uses that are outlined in the proposed zoning.”
Great Barrington town meeting is set for 2 p.m. Saturday at Monument Mountain Regional High School.
