Council to request FY27 human-services funding; substance-misuse allocation to be sought at $175,000

The Council for Human Services said at its July 31 meeting it will send a formal request to the town manager and select board for fiscal year 2027 human-services funding levels before releasing the fall grant round. The council plans to request $175,000 specifically for substance-misuse services for FY27 and is seeking clarity from the town finance office on how funding can be structured.

Veronica Bolchick told members the substance-misuse allocation has historically been funded by cannabis-related revenues, which are no longer available. Last year the council used a different funding source (not specified in the meeting). To align grant expectations with available funds, the council will ask finance staff to brief CRC and CHS at a joint session; the meeting with the town finance director, Brian Turbot, is scheduled for Friday, August 8, at 9 a.m., the council said.

Discussion at the meeting also touched on a proposed cap on awards to individual applicants; council members discussed a possible $100,000 cap per organization to prevent concentration of the available pool in a small number of programs. Members noted that the total pool available in recent years has been in the range of $650,000 and that, when adjusted for inflation, the town’s purchasing power has decreased (staff cited an estimated $183,000 loss in purchasing power since 2018). The council intends to finalize funding requests and circulate a draft letter to the town manager and select board ahead of the finance briefing.

The council said it wants funding levels known before releasing grant applications so applicants understand the pool available. The council also said it will continue to classify grants as operational/capacity awards versus seed or program-start grants when evaluating requests.