Good things can happen in town governments, even this one. The Times visited with Select Board Chairman Steve Seddon this month to ask about the year just passed. "Remind us about 2024," we said. "What good things happened?"

It turned out that, in Steve's opinion, a few good things did happen. Town government is working. In no particular order, Steve listed a few things.

One small item - but not that small - was that, as Seddon said, "maintenance and upkeep of Town buildings was done while we were able to lower real estate taxes."

The Town Hall is now heated and cooled by a heat pump system with a backup generator, paid for through grant funding. Not only will the Town Hall enjoy something its never had - air conditioning during the hot, muggy days of summer - but the Town will save on oil expense in the winter because solar panels installed a year ago will fuel the heat pumps.

The Town got a fresh look when Old Town Hall and the adjoining Police Station were scraped and painted for the first time in a long time. Storm windows were installed and the building got a new shingled roof.

The Town Library was scraped and painted. Fresh green paint around the doors and windows brightened the whole building and the building also got a new shingled roof. The water infiltration to the Library's basement level was corrected by repairs to the drainage system.

As for taxes: Seddon said that the tax rate just four years ago, in 2021, was $13.35 per $1,000. This year it is $9.02. "We attained this tax lowering by two things. One was by returning excess free cash to offset the tax levy. The second, more important, was by implementing a split-tax rate that redistributed some of the tax burden to commercial and industrial properties in order to relieve personal property taxes from residential. You might think Sandisfield has neither commercial nor industrial properties, but we do. The Kinder-Morgan Pipeline is one, and Verizon is another. Both now pay significantly more in taxes than they did last year."

He added that the excess free cash in the Town's treasury had accumulated as a result of under-spent budgets and unexpected revenues. Returning the bulk of that free cash back to the tax payers - cash that wasn't needed for future town expenses - made the most sense and helped with Treasury transparency.

He pointed out that these policy decisions were made by the Select Board to create fiscal responsibility.

"Another way we created more cash," Seddon said, "was that the Treasurer/Tax Collector introduced safe investment policies at the request of the Select Board that is yielding $6,000 a month, using accounts that aren't being used. While the investment yield isn't guaranteed, it happens now to be paying a couple salaries at Town Hall."

What will help the Town fiscally in the future, Seddon believes, is that the Town adopted a financial policy manual based on guidance from the Department of Local Services (a state agency that helps municipalities on fiscal matters). "This will give current and future Select Boards a road map on financial procedures and directives that are required by the state. We won't have to reinvent the process every year."

He added that the Town made two other fiscal improvements that will help the Town in the future.

One, that the Town has nearly completed its first capital plan and capital-facility plan. He said that these documents are being made collectively by all stake-holding departments in order to create a more responsible approach for replacement schedules for all Town assets over $25K. The document is to be ratified by the Finance Committee and the Select Board to ensure that no large purchase requests will pop up at Town Meeting to cause unexpected hikes in the residential tax rate. "It will also give the Select Board the ability to properly plan and fund the capital stabilization account for future needs."

The second is that the Town recently completed a full audit of basic financial statements. This was the Town's first audit since 2021 when a smaller audit of agreed-upon procedures was conducted. The current auditor noted, said Seddon, that "our Accountant and Treasurer/Tax Collector are doing a great job and it's a difference of night and day from our 2021 results. Our Town is fortunate to have such a great financial team."

He mentioned that the School Committee is doing "creating scholastic and fiscal responsibility for the Farmington River Regional School District and the students. Their current negotiations for a revised Regional District Agreement could adjust the amount both towns have to contribute to the cost of the school based on their ability to pay, if both towns vote in favor of the plan. This could help lower the school's impact on residential tax bills." (See the press release statement from the FRRSD School Committee.)

Seddon mentioned Janey Snyder, who was appointed Town Manager last year. "Janey is homegrown," he said. "Besides that, she was the administrative assistant to the former Town Manager and to the Select Board for nearly three years, as well as assistant to the Treasurer/Tax collector. She is adding to her understanding of town finances and continuing her education through municipal and town manager college courses. Her experience in our town government made her the perfect choice to lead our amazing team of professionals at Town Hall. I think anyone who has interacted with Janey on any issues at Town Hall will agree."

Lastly, Seddon mentioned that along with the Town hiring Fire Chief Henry Fristik and DPW Supervisor Dave Waldron that Officers Mary Bredenfoerder and Adam Gonska have been providing a police presence on our roads with the highest number of speeders. "They've made a real difference," he said, "slowing down some of the worst offenders."

In summary, Seddon said there is a lot more to do, but added that the Board's efforts to improve the Town's policy guardrails "will help future members of Town government keep our ship steady, and that in my opinion is priceless."