Lenox Finance Committee Recommends Town Meeting Warrants, Defers Ambulance Capital Vote

LENOX -- April 23, 2026, Lenox Finance Committee approves annual warrant articles 5-0, defers ambulance capital vote to May 11. The committee worked through more than a dozen warrant articles at its April 23 meeting, recommending a 4.7 percent municipal operating budget increase, the Berkshire Hills Regional School System's operating and $37,000 capital budgets, OPEB and sewer and water surplus transfers, and Community Preservation Committee allocations to Annual Town Meeting on May 18. The sole contested item, a $25,000 capital contribution toward ambulance purchase for Southern Berkshire Volunteer Ambulance Service, was held pending the outcome of Great Barrington's budget process, which includes an unresolved potential override vote. The committee did approve a companion $25,000 operating appropriation for the service, with the chair characterizing the decade-long gap in billing between the ambulance service and Stockbridge as "complete mismanagement." Two members, identified as Jim and Rich Bradway, recused from separate Community Preservation allocations tied to organizations in which they hold paid roles, with each item passing 4-0 on separate votes.