North Brookfield Scraps Board of Fire Engineers
North Brookfield Town Meeting passes $15.4 million budget, scraps elected fire board. Voters approved a fiscal 2027 general fund operating budget of $15,383,318.17 across four motions, including $7,358,698.07 for schools, plus $834,679 for water and $1,384,330.64 for sewer enterprise funds.
Town Meeting · Meeting of June 12, 2026
North Brookfield Town Meeting passes $15.4 million budget, scraps elected fire board. Voters approved a fiscal 2027 general fund operating budget of $15,383,318.17 across four motions, including $7,358,698.07 for schools, plus $834,679 for water and $1,384,330.64 for sewer enterprise funds. Finance Committee member Roger Brooks said the budget is balanced and fully funds net school spending, with just under $600,000 budgeted for a new fire-and-highway debt exclusion.
Voters also approved $178,000 for the North Brookfield Emergency Squad. In the night's most substantive debate, Selectman Peter Orsi won approval to abolish the elected Board of Fire Engineers under Massachusetts General Law Chapter 48, Section 42A, replacing it with a fire chief appointed by and reporting to the Board of Selectmen, calling the old board structure "an antiquated system" used in only two other Massachusetts towns.
In the full story:
- Who Was There
- Organizations And Documents Referenced
- The complete report — 2,148 words
Source: the Town Meeting meeting of June 12, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
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