The focus of the Hampshire Council of Governments continues to be to help local governments save money and solve problems through regional cooperation - as it was set out in the Council Charter - and a commitment to the concept of local control over local affairs. The combined dues for the Council of Governments in Fiscal Year 2007 were $37,206. All current Council members voted to continue their membership with Council for the next four years and received a reduced annual assessment. The purpose of the reduction was to reduce the financial burden to the municipalities while increasing the stability of the Council membership. It is the intent of the Council to increase revenues from a variety of sources - increasing revenues from Hampshire Care, property rentals, and sale of electricity to towns and businesses - to offset the reduced assessment. The dues collected help support Council programs, services, and assistance to a variety of programs.

The Council’s Electricity Program, named Hampshire Power in 2007, continues to grow. Thirty-four towns and districts in Hampshire, Franklin, and Hampden contracted with the Council for electricity supply for their municipal facilities. In addition, five businesses in Hampshire County signed supply contracts with the Council. In Fiscal Year 2007, this program began offering a Real Time Rate in addition to the Profit Sharing Rate. Those customers who chose the Real Time Rate realized a savings each month. The Real Time Rate is the actual hourly market rate for each hour’s usage during the meter cycle. An administrative charge is added to this rate. The first customer to choose this plan, the Town of Belchertown, realized a saving of $132,600 for 10 months of supply during Fiscal Year 2007. Those customers who contracted with the Council for a profit sharing rate in Fiscal Year 2007 shared $47,631 in profit rebates. Customers who opt for the profit sharing rate pay the utility prices and share in profits which the Council hopes to earn by buying directly from the electricity spot market. Future goals include extending to Berkshire and Worcester Counties, offering green energy plans, and ultimately, supplying residents through a municipal aggregation

The Cooperative Purchasing program, now in its 27th year, coordinates and administers a formal bidding process on behalf of Council departments, municipalities, school districts, and human service agencies and miscellaneous governmental entities throughout the Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, and Hampshire County region. Buying in bulk generates added savings over lone bidding efforts while complying with state procurement statutes and eliminating duplication of administrative work. The total purchasing volume for goods and services for Fiscal Year 2007 was $4.4 million with a projected savings of $842,688.

In a year when many towns are facing double-digit rate increases in health insurance premiums, our towns once again held their costs to single-digit increases. The Hampshire Councilors serve as the trustees of the Hampshire County Group Insurance Trust, a cooperative effort to provide health and life insurance with excellent benefits at competitive rates. An Insurance Advisory Committee, made up of representatives of all participating units, meets regularly to discuss problems and possible solutions and to explore new ideas. The Trust manages a self-funded group of health insurance products. The collective premium for the Trust was $32.2M. Through the efforts and expertise of the Trust management, the volume of participation in the program, and the participation of the town representatives on the Advisory Board, the Insurance Trust is successful at managing costs while providing excellent benefits.

The Regional Services Department develops regional approaches to problems shared by Hampshire County municipalities. The department secures surplus federal equipment for various Massachusetts municipalities and state entities. The current net savings of property delivered to member communities for Fiscal Year 2007, after fees and delivery charges, totaled $17,710.83. Member communities receive a discount on the fees, as well as the right of first refusal on nicer pieces of equipment obtained through the surplus program. Regional Services continued its oversight of the Hampshire Inspection Program, which provides building inspection and zoning enforcement services. Emergency inspection services are also available for other towns not in the program for an hourly fee. Department personnel prepared two successful grant applications, obtaining funding for the towns of Huntington and Pelham for fire apparatus and equipment, valued at $250,000. Finally, in addition to preparing a wage and salary survey of Hampshire County municipalities, the Department has been cooperating with the Electricity Department in performing account analysis and estimated electricity cost savings to help towns analyze their electricity purchase options, as well as salesmanship.

The elected Councilors provide public oversight for Hampshire Care in Leeds, a rehabilitation and skilled nursing facility owned and operated by the Council and County since 1914. The facility provides for 120 patients, with over 250 admissions per year from all the towns in the County. The majority of patients are admitted for rehabilitative care following an accident or illness. Hampshire Care also provides post hospital treatment, and long-term nursing services. The facility has an exemplary record of performance on State and Federal surveys, and rates highest in the County on State Survey results. (See Massachusetts Department of Public Health "nursing Home Report Card.") As a government owned, non-profit facility, Hampshire Care has no owners or stockholders to report to and concentrates all of its resources on offering the best patient care possible. All revenues for the facility’s operation come from patient services. Hampshire Care also has roughly the same profile of Medicare, Medicaid, and private patients as the average long-term care facility in Massachusetts. The Hampshire Council of Governments is very sensitive to its responsibilities as a government entity to provide services for the communities it serves. The Council would like to be able to expand the public services being offered on the campus of Hampshire Park, where Hampshire Care is located. Hampshire Care also provides a substantial number of good jobs, with 120 full-time equivalents and over 150 employees. These employees, as with the patients, almost all are residents of the surrounding towns and villages. The total financial impact on the local economy is about $8 million dollars. As a government entity Hampshire Care is challenged by the need to provide employees with better benefits than private sector facilities, while receiving lower reimbursement because of the high quality of patient care.

One of the less noted benefits to local communities is the impact that Hampshire Care has on the cost of retirement benefits. It has been calculated that retirement benefits for most communities would rise substantially if Hampshire Care were not part of the Hampshire County Retirement board.

The Council has continued to provide tobacco prevention efforts in the region since 1994. Currently there are two programs run by the Tobacco Free Network. Through the Youth Access to Tobacco prevention program we are working in 33 towns in Franklin, Hampshire, and Worcester Counties. These communities do not have local youth access to tobacco regulations or are not currently enforcing their regulations. By conducting compliance checks, doing retailer and community education, and working with local boards of health we hope to reduce the sale of tobacco to minors and increase compliance with the state law. In addition, the Network is working in Holyoke to develop a community smoking intervention plan. These programs are funded by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Since the passage of the state-wide smoke free work site law in July of 2005, efforts here and across the state have been on preventing youth from using tobacco, helping smokers who are interested to quit, protecting people from second hand smoke, and working to end health disparities of tobacco.

In addition to the various departments, programs, and services, each Councilor attends a monthly Full Board Meeting as well as a Standing Committee Meeting. Each Committee has oversight of specific departments and programs and continues to look for ways to increase revenue and provide services. The Council is currently working on proposals for development of the Hampshire Park area of Hampshire Care. Ideas discussed include the potential for the addition of a charter school, a housing program, and other developmental ideas to enhance the property and raise revenue.

For further information on Council programs, expenses, and revenues, please contact the Councilors’ Office at 413-584-1300 ext. 2.