Halifax creates $300,000 PFAS receipt account and votes to rescind special PFAS stabilization fund

The Board of Selectmen proposed Article 6 to establish a PFAS receipt‑reserved appropriation account and transfer an initial $300,000 from the general fund so the town water commissioners can fund PFAS mitigation and related water infrastructure projects without requiring a 0.667 town‑meeting vote for every appropriation. "Article 6 establishes a PFAS receipt reserved appropriation account and transfers initial 300,000 into it," a selectman said during presentation; the finance committee recommended the article subject to clarifying the account name and oversight language.

Selectmen and other presenters said the change addresses a practical constraint: a special stabilization fund (created under the May 11, 2026 vote) requires a 0.667 appropriation vote and would slow response in an emergency or to use settlement proceeds. Article 5 therefore proposed rescinding that PFAS stabilization fund; presenters explained rescission starts a statutory process (the stabilization fund will remain on the books for three years even if not used), but rescinding will let the water commissioners access settlement funds through the newly created account with simpler town‑meeting appropriation requirements. Voters approved Article 6 (creation and $300,000 transfer) and then approved Article 5 (rescission) by the required 0.667 vote. Meeting presenters noted the PFAS account already held $379,303 and that the $300,000 transfer represented an initial allocation into the newly structured account.