Lanesborough Finance Committee Approves Six Fiscal 2025 Year-End Budget Transfers

LANESBOROUGH — July 14, 2025 — Lanesborough Finance Committee unanimously approved six fiscal year 2025 year-end budget transfers while calling for structural reforms to how unexpected expenses are handled. The committee, chaired by Lyndon Moore and meeting for 29 minutes on July 14, passed a departmental transfer document and five separate reserve fund requests totaling $34,898, covering items including $6,231 for workers' compensation tied to a change in ambulance department insurance coverage, $7,300 in contracted winter-road services while DPW was short three laborers, $8,695 in double-time overtime for the same staffing gap, and $10,000 for unexpected winter equipment repairs. DPW Superintendent Charlie told the committee that a new DEP-mandated PFAS well test drove a roughly $9,000 landfill monitoring overrun because the final invoice arrived June 11 — the same day as town meeting — and that fiscal 2026 monitoring costs are already projected at $21,775. Member Vera Farrell argued repeatedly that genuine emergency expenses should draw from the town's $50,000 reserve fund first rather than through inter-departmental line transfers, noting $24,334 would remain in the reserve even after all five requests were approved.