PITTSFIELD — The Pittsfield Town Council has approved a $7.5 million municipal budget for 2022 that is expected to increase property taxes by less than 1%.

At a meeting Tuesday that ran almost five hours, councilors backed the spending plan, which includes a $4.5 million operating budget, an 8.6% increase from this year.

The other $3 million is mostly to cover capital expenses related to construction and other high-ticket work.

The town budget covers the calendar year and goes into effect in January.

The amount to be raised from taxes is expected to be about $2.4 million, which would increase the property tax rate by 0.142% for next year. The increase is not final because it depends on other numbers from the state and school district, and the town’s assessment, which will not be finalized until next year.

With the projected increase, the tax on property valued at $250,000 would be $5,680.

A large part of the budget increase is related to the cost of fire protection, which is expected to jump to $184,147 from $115,000.

While the Town Council has held budget workshops over the past several months, there were still a few changes Tuesday. Councilors added a $5,000 expense to the capital budget for radio repeaters for the Police and Fire departments, which will improve the radio signal across town.

Officials said they plan next year to upgrade the computer system at the Town Office, and while the quoted cost of the service was included in the budget, the actual cost was $5,000 more. That additional expense also was added into the capital budget.

In other matters, the Town Council held a lengthy debate about bonuses for town employees who have worked through the COVID-19 pandemic, a measure that was ultimately approved in a 5-2 vote.

The bonuses are expected to be $1,500 for some department heads, including the town manager and the police and fire chiefs, $1,000 for full-time employees and $500 for part-time workers.

The bonuses are mostly to be paid with money from the federal American Rescue Plan Act, with $6,000 of the cost coming from the town. The town funds are to come from money not used in 2021, and did not impact the 2022 budget, officials said.

Councilors Michael Cianchette and Jason Hall opposed the bonuses, saying they felt the money would be better spent elsewhere. Other councilors said that town employees did not have the option to work from home and performed admirably this year.

“I don’t understand why this is an argument,” Councilor Amanda Collamore said.

Tuesday’s meeting was the last for three councilors: Collamore, Mayor Heather Donahue and Deputy Mayor Tim Nichols. Collamore and Nichols offered parting remarks at a previous meeting, and Donahue thanked the other councilors for their work.

Donahue will be succeeded by Eric Saucier, who won the seat in the November election.

The other two seats will remain vacant until the town holds an election.

Nichols did not seek reelection in November for his District 1 seat, and no candidate filed papers for the election.

Collamore, meantime, resigned from her at-large seat a year before her term was up.

Donahue said Wednesday she has more to offer the town and is interested in running next year for the vacant at-large seat.

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