BRATTLEBORO-The budget passed by the Brattleboro Selectboard that will be voted on at Representative Town Meeting on Tuesday, May 27 includes reducing the position of the sustainability coordinator from full-time to part-time (25 hours per week without benefits), which is projected to save the town about $37,000.
As a member of the town's Energy Committee who works with the sustainability coordinator, I believe this very shortsighted decision will end up not saving the town money after all and instead make our budget crisis worse.
Not only will the town be unlikely to find a qualified candidate who would be willing to work part-time without benefits, but because of the grant revenue and savings in efficiency that this position has already brought since it was created in 2020 and will continue to bring, the return on investment of keeping this position full-time far outweighs the savings.
A memo sent by the sustainability coordinator on April 25 shows that since the position was created he has obtained $191,000 in grants for town sustainability and efficiency projects, has saved the town $72,000 annually from the impact of projects (with another $41,000 per year in planned projects), and $20,000 to $30,000 in efficiency incentives that had previously been missed.