Finance Committee Approves STR Software, Recommends $50,000 OPEB Trust Seed Funding

GREAT BARRINGTON -- October 6, 2022, Great Barrington Finance Committee approves $12,000 rental-compliance software and recommends a $50,000 seed for a new retiree benefits trust. The five-member committee voted unanimously Thursday to transfer $12,000 from its reserve fund to subscribe to Local Gov, a platform that will scrape thousands of short-term rental websites daily and build a town registration portal ahead of Great Barrington's new short-term rental bylaw taking effect January 1, 2023. Town Manager Mark Pruhenski, who evaluated four vendors with quotes ranging from $12,000 to $27,000, said he will contact reference municipalities Hudson, New York, and Saranac Lake before signing the contract. The committee also voted unanimously to recommend that the Select Board establish an Other Post-Employment Benefits trust and fund it with an initial $50,000 contribution, the first step toward addressing the town's unfunded retiree health liability, and forwarded a revised fiscal year 2024 budget policy to the Select Board. A proposal to use reserve funds for direct financial aid to lower-income Housatonic residents affected by the village's water-quality crisis was tabled to October 18, pending a public forum on Housatonic Water Works scheduled for October 17; Town Manager Pruhenski confirmed the reserve fund currently stands at $200,000.