The Future of Local Municipalities

Berkshire County Municipal Managers, which meets monthly in Lenox, has reviewed its “2022 Municipal Staffing Survey,” conducted with BRPC through its Regional Issues Committee. Of the thirty Berkshire County towns, 23 responded, including Sandisfield and many of our neighboring South County towns.

The principal issue was found to be the recruitment, training, and retention of paid staff for certain critical positions. This "Discussion Paper" outlines recruitment challenges facing Berkshire Communities for certain critical paid positions, and offers options to address those challenges and action steps to further positive outcomes. See link below.

Points from the survey include:

A list of those positions that a majority of communities deemed difficult to fill is as follows: Town Administrator/Manager, Accountant, Assessor, Building Inspector, Assistant Building Inspectors & staff, DPW staff, Fire Fighters, Police Officers/Constables, Tax Collector and Treasurer, Ambulance staff.

Compensation including benefits was mentioned most often as a barrier to hiring and retaining qualified people. Secondarily, a significant minority of communities noted skills/licenses and training to be a challenge in obtaining and retaining qualified staff.

The survey also addresses difficulties filling volunteer board and committee positions.

Please feel free to read the paper and survey data. The future of our local government is vulnerable and in the balance.