Barre, MA
Recent Barre public meeting topics include contracts & procurement, budget & taxes, water & utilities.
Topics found in recent meetings
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Recent meetings
Tue May 19, 2026
Meeting
✓ Decided: Barre voters approve creation of new Department of Public Works
Voters approved a petition for special legislation to establish a Department of Public Works under the Select Board. The meeting also approved the FY2027 town and school budgets and authorized the purchase of a new dump truck. A proposed local sales tax on restaurant meals was defeated.
- Approved petition for special legislation to establish a Department of Public Works (100-36)
- Appropriated $7,180,460 for FY2027 town expenses (Unanimous)
- Appropriated $8,000,818 for FY2027 school charges and expenses (Majority)
- Appropriated $450,000 for a new 10-wheeled dump truck with plow and sander (2/3 Majority)
- Denied local 0.75% sales tax on restaurant meals (73 Yes, 79 No)
- Approved 6% local option room occupancy excise tax (Majority)
- Approved $1,149,334 for Sewer Enterprise Fund and $694,408 for Water Enterprise Fund (Majority/Unanimous)
- Approved amendments to the Quabbin Regional School District Agreement (Majority)
📄 From the minutes
Extracted text of the official minutes document (automated extraction — may contain OCR/formatting errors).
TOWN OF BARRE - ANNUAL TOWN MEETING
Tuesday, May 19, 2026 – 6:30 p.m. – 105 Ruggles Lane (School)
The Moderator called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m. with a total of 146 voters checked in. Of
the 4,393 registered voters qualified to attend, on ly 176 (4%) of the voters attended the meeting,
100 from Prec. 1 and 76 from Prec. 2. There were also 15 guests (non voters) in attendance.
The meeting opened with a pledge of allegiance to t he Flag. The following corrections were
announced as changes to the printed Finance Committee Booklet:
Reinstatement of Expenses: (due to Quabbin Budget being lower than expected).
From Assessment $(82,359):
Increase each of the following line items:
Historical Exp. $950
COA Exp. $2,000
Cemetery Exp. $500
Tree Warden Exp. $1,000
DPW (Town Roads) $2,000
Planning Board Exp. $1,000
Conservation Exp. $1,000
Building Exp. $1,400
Ambulance Exp. $2,000
Fire Exp. $2,000
Town Clerk Various $5,475
BOA Expense $2,000
Recreation $4,100
Parks & Commons $2,600
Veterans $1,500
Total Reinstated $29,525.00
Balance From Assessment $(52,834)
The Moderator then gave a brief history presentatio n in light of the 250
th Anniversary of the
signing of the Declaration of Independence and the reason we have it. He said it was due to the
King setting into place a set of laws that consisted of mainly 3 acts, which later became known as
the intolerable acts. It included a tax on tea, th e stamp act and a ban on Town Meetings limiting
f …
Excerpt truncated on this listing page. Full text →