Lanesborough Boards Eye $1.3 Million Free Cash to Cut Property Tax Rate

LANESBOROUGH -- April 13, 2026, Lanesborough Select Board and Finance Committee weigh using $1.3 million in free cash to lower property taxes. At a joint April 13 meeting, the two boards reviewed an FY27 budget schedule with Finance Committee and Select Board warrant votes targeted for May 4 and May 11 ahead of annual town meeting. Crystal Van Dusen, EMS coordinator for Berkshire Health Systems, told the boards an ALS ambulance conversion would cost more than $1 million in equipment alone before staffing, reinforcing the town's BLS model; EMS Director Jennifer Weber said Lanesborough responded to Pittsfield on mutual aid roughly 60 times last year. Finance Committee member Kristen proposed increasing a tax-rate-reduction warrant article from $100,000 to at least $300,000, consolidating DPW budget lines toward an $800,000 combined target, and potentially paying off a truck loan balance of $180,112.87 to save roughly $17,985 in interest. Officials noted that every $100,000 drawn from free cash reduces the tax rate by approximately one percent, and that an additional $227,464 in land-sale revenue is also available for capital use.