Stockbridge Launches Five-Year Ambulance Plan With July 2027 Start Date

STOCKBRIDGE -- March 23, 2026, Stockbridge approves joint ambulance budget plan and eyes 10 percent water rate hike. The Select Board and Finance Committee met jointly March 23 to advance a five-year financial plan for a Stockbridge-West Stockbridge ambulance service targeting a July 1, 2027 launch, with a capital equipment request of $300,000 and operating costs rising by more than half a million dollars in fiscal year 2027 before revenue from billings offsets expenses. Town Administrator Michael Canales and Deputy Fire Chief of EMS Operations Michael Maher, Jr. described a nine-person staffing model, a 60-40 cost-sharing agreement with West Stockbridge, and a 10-year intermunicipal agreement under legal review. On water, Canales said he will likely recommend a 10 percent rate increase, rather than the technically required 20 percent, after Water Superintendent Jim Baffoni identified a major commercial customer's switch to closed-loop refrigeration as a key driver of metered sales falling from roughly 60 million to 52 million gallons annually. A Finance Committee member called explicitly for a formal long-term infrastructure strategy for the town's aging water mains, some dating to 1891, with combined underground replacement costs estimated above $30 million.