Select Board Orders Spending Curbs as Reserves Shrink

Select Board · Meeting of April 15, 2026

BROOKFIELD — The Brookfield Select Board voted to curb non-essential spending for the rest of fiscal 2026 after officials said the reserve fund has dropped to about $5,000. Health insurance costs rose 20 percent in October and the technology budget was underfunded by more than $30,000, members said. The board separately voted to use $114,284.54 in remaining ARPA funds and $102,281 in unused fiscal 2025 "fair share" transportation money toward an estimated $230,000 shortfall on the Gay Road reconstruction project, funded by a $1 million state grant with $839,979 already spent.

Finance Committee Chair Jeff Clark told the board, "you can't just... leave it sitting there" regarding unpaid invoices. The board also adopted a Town Administrator Search Committee Charter and voted to post jobs for both an interim and permanent administrator, and approved a privately funded plan to light Lewis Field for baseball and softball.

In the full story:

• The Full Story
• Why It Matters
• Key Motions & Votes
• Source
• Brookfield's community access TV: Select Board meeting, April 15, 2026
• The complete report: 1,026 words

Source: the Select Board meeting of April 15, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.