Deerfield Boards Approve EMS and Senior Center Budgets, Eyes Override Vote

DEERFIELD -- April 6, 2026, Deerfield Finance Committee and Select Board approve South County EMS and Senior Center budgets totaling over $2.5 million in joint votes, with the town landing within $1,000 of its Proposition 2 1/2 levy ceiling. Both bodies voted 6-0-0 and 3-0-0, respectively, on four budget items: SCEMS payroll at $1,688,501 (a 5.67 percent increase), the SCEMS Enterprise Fund at $241,710 (down 0.40 percent), Deerfield's SCEMS assessment at $518,861 (up 25 percent after retained earnings were spent on an ambulance instead of offsetting member-town costs), and the South County Senior Center's status-quo operating contribution at $140,432 (up 31.94 percent, partly driven by Deerfield's census-based cost share rising from 50 percent to 54 percent). Finance Committee member Mark Brennan warned that the town appears to be drawing roughly $1.2 million in certified free cash annually to cover recurring expenses and said a $73,000 police cruiser had to be moved out of the operating budget into capital to stay under the tax ceiling. Town voters will face Proposition 2 1/2 override questions on both the Senior Center's proposed move to 112 Amherst Road in Sunderland and the SCEMS structural shortfall at the May 11 Annual Town Meeting.