Acushnet Board of Selectmen awards five-year trash contract, adopts $38 million budget

ACUSHNET -- June 10, 2026, Acushnet Board of Selectmen adopts $38.2 million FY27 budget and awards five-year trash contract to E.L. Harvey and Sons. The board unanimously approved an operating budget of $38,157,162 for fiscal year 2027 at its June 10 meeting, including a $450,000 increase to the Acushnet Public Schools appropriation, bringing it to $17,139,645, after what Chairman Michael Gaspard described as an unusually difficult budget process requiring cuts to the general reserve fund and road-paving revenues. Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School's assessment also rose $410,000, to $3,653,624, a figure Selectman David LaMontagne called "very challenging" alongside efforts to fund the K-8 schools. The board separately awarded E.L. Harvey and Sons a five-year curbside collection contract at $3,380,596, with recycling priced at a fixed $110 per ton in the first year. Gaspard also told residents watching at home that if the Old Colony school re-vote on June 20 clears a 50.1 percent aggregate threshold across five towns under MGL 16N, "we do not have a choice", Acushnet would be required to place a debt exclusion article before a future town meeting to fund the resulting assessment.