Finance Committee delays vote on reduced ambulance funding request
Finance Committee · Meeting of April 28, 2026
Great Barrington Finance Committee delays action on a scaled-back $240,000 ambulance funding request. Chair Richard Geiler ran out of meeting time Tuesday to recommend Article 15, a citizen's petition originally seeking $490,000 in free cash for Southern Berkshire Ambulance Service to help buy two new ambulances; SBAS board member Peter Most told the committee the request has been lowered to $240,000, spread over a pending three-year service contract. Member Milena Cerna asked, "How can we hand taxpayers' money to an outside entity without having any oversight?" Town Manager Liz Hartsgrove said a new quarterly oversight committee is being written into the contract.
SBAS's Patrick White estimated the appropriation equals about $67 a year, or 1 percent, of the average tax bill. The committee already approved a $327,777 SBAS operating assessment and will revisit a recommendation at its May 2 meeting.
In the full story:
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Source: the Finance Committee meeting of April 28, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
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