Hatfield Select Board Abates $124,000 in Ambulance Debt, Defers Energy Rate Vote

HATFIELD — February 10, 2026 — Hatfield Select Board abates $124,784.50 in uncollectable ambulance debt and defers a proposed energy rate increase. The board voted unanimously February 10 to write off seven years of unpaid ambulance bills, with Fire Chief Flaherty citing expired statutes of limitations and Medicare's 12-month collection window as the primary drivers. Representatives from Colonial Power Group sought authorization to raise the town's community power choice aggregate energy rate by 0.01244 cents per kilowatt hour — about $6 more per month than Eversource's current basic service rate — to recover unanticipated costs from ISO New England's DAISY ancillary services program, which has run nearly 17 times its projected cost since launching in March 2025. Board members declined to sign, questioning the chart showing a net $79,788 in resident savings and asking what legal recourse the supplier would actually have. Town Administrator Andrew Levine opened the fiscal year 2027 budget preview by warning the board that a projected $400,000 health insurance increase through Hampshire County Group Insurance Trust already exceeds the town's estimated $365,000 in new levy and growth revenue, with the school budget and final insurance numbers still outstanding.