Greenfield Ways and Means Scrutinizes Fire, Police, and DPW FY27 Budgets

Other Committee · Meeting of May 11, 2026

Greenfield's Ways and Means Committee reviewed proposed FY27 budgets for public safety and the Department of Public Works at a May 11 meeting that ran more than four hours with no formal votes taken. Fire Chief Bob Strand warned that the department's ambulance revenue account — holding roughly $667,000 built up over a decade — will be over-expended for the first time, with $562,928 budgeted out while annual transport revenue runs below $400,000; "this is not sustainable for future years," he told the committee. The department is losing one firefighter through attrition and eliminating a 20-hour clerical position in the fire prevention bureau, leaving the city below the eight-on-duty minimum recommended in a 2006 staffing study.

The police department is dropping from 35 to 34 sworn officers, and a four-year COPS grant worth roughly $375,000 that has sustained three officer salaries enters its final fully city-funded year. Six residents used public comment to push for redirecting money from the police budget to schools and the after-school recreation program, with John McDonough of Precinct 4 calling the elimination of one recreation staffer "25 percent of their staff." The finance director agreed to compile a city-wide debt overview before the full council vote, expected in June.

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Source: the Other Committee meeting of May 11, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.