Deerfield Finance Committee Recommends Fourteen FY2027 Budget Lines in Joint Session

DEERFIELD -- February 9, 2026, Deerfield Finance Committee unanimously approves fourteen FY2027 budget lines at joint session, flagging a $1.2 million structural deficit. Meeting jointly with the Selectboard at the Municipal Offices on February 9, Finance Committee Chair Julie Chalfant and members James Cambias, Margaret Nartowicz, and John Paresky passed every line 4-0-0 after amending the Police Department Cruiser account twice, stripping a $4,000 radio upgrade covered by a reserve fund transfer and shifting $3,500 in defibrillator costs to the Police Department Expense account, landing the cruiser line at $73,000. Police Chief John Paciorek Jr. won approval for a $1,304,769 police payroll, a 4.87 percent increase tied to the newly negotiated union contract. Highway Superintendent Matthew Morse unveiled an interactive road condition dashboard showing a $7.2 million pavement repair backlog against a $360,000 annual Chapter 90 allotment. The sewer budget carried the evening's best news: debt service drops $126,614 to $693,208 in FY2027, and the sewer enterprise fund will not draw on retained earnings for the first time in several years.