HEATH — Annual Town Meeting voters will be asked to consider an overall $1.6 million fiscal year 2025 spending plan for town government services on Saturday, along with another $1 million assessment for its share of the $26.7 million Mohawk Trail Regional School District budget.

The meeting starts at 9 a.m. at the Jacobs Road Municipal Center.

The general government budget represents a $104,115 increase over the current year’s spending in this town of 723 residents and a tax rate of $20.43 per $1,000 valuation.

The Finance Committee is recommending passage of all warrant articles, except for those pertaining to the Mohawk Trail Regional School District regional agreement changes, the school district’s requested $1 million town assessment, a transfer of $24,443 from free cash to the school district’s FY22 Operating Assessment Error Account, and paying Rowe $6,667 for shared transportation costs for a late bus that takes students home from Mohawk Trail Regional School in Buckland following after-school activities.

The regional agreement amendment would change the enrollment formula that is used to calculate town assessments by adding in students who attend charter schools or who have used School Choice to attend other districts. The Heath Elementary School closed in June 2017 because enrollment declines made the school unsustainable; there were only 32 students in the final year, but the cost to operate the school was more than $1 million. Now, the Finance Committee questions the proposed formula change, given that the town only has 30 students at Mohawk Trail Regional School and nine students enrolled at Colrain Central School, according to the school district’s figures.

“Something’s wrong, something’s broken,” said Finance Committee member Alice Wozniak, referring to the per-pupil expense as being comparable to private school rates.

“When we closed our school, a good chunk of our kids went to Hawlemont, while others went to Rowe and about one-third went to Colrain Central,” Wozniak continued. “We closed our school to benefit the district. Now we’re going to be penalized because our kids are now going to three schools.”

Wozniak said the students who went to Hawlemont or Rowe when the Heath Elementary School closed want to finish up at their current school. This means Heath has 22 students enrolled outside the Mohawk Trail district, because Hawlemont and Rowe elementary schools are not part of that school system.

“Our kids are all over the place, and the finances are no better,” she added.

This year’s Heath assessment represents a 1% decrease, according to Mohawk Trail’s budget sheets. But if the regional agreement changes are approved by all member towns, each of Heath’s out-of-district students will be added to Mohawk Trail’s enrollment formula and Heath’s assessment will increase.

Because a long-range sustainability study for the Mohawk Trail and Hawlemont districts is underway, the Heath Finance Committee believes the districts should wait for the results of the study before proposing a regional agreement change.

Both the Selectboard and Finance Committee recommend voters support the following school budget requests:

■$17,138 for Mohawk Trail Regional School’s capital assessment.

■$4,605 for Colrain Central School’s capital assessment.

■Enhanced 911 telephone services for Mohawk Trail Regional School ($2,141) and Colrain Central School ($920).

■$95,578 for Franklin County Technical School’s operating assessment and $2,372 for its capital assessment.

Town government spending requests include:

■ $22,000 for contracting emergency medical services from the Colrain Volunteer Ambulance Association.

■Using $100,000 from free cash reserves for a newly established Salt Shed Design & Construction Account, for the eventual replacement of the old town salt shed.

■Transfers from other accounts totaling $7,500 to pay for a roadside leaf blower.

■Transfers totaling $10,854 for a Community/Sawyer Hall Building Needs Account for maintenance and repairs to those buildings.

The town is also asking voters to approve using a $15,000 Woodlands Partnership Implementation Grant to buy and maintain a perpetual recreational easement at the end of Vincent Road. According to Town Coordinator Hilma Sumner, the money will be used to pay landowners for the easement to create a continuous hiking trail leading from Heath to the Catamount State Forest in Colrain.

To view the full warrant, visit townofheath.org/files/2024-05-11_ATM_Warrant.pdf.