CHUSETTS 10) THE GENERAL COURT OF MASSA: STATE HOUSE, BOSTON May 16,2018 Members of the Select Board, We write to you concerning the recent letter that you and the other municipal officials in Hampshire County received from The Hampshire Council of Governments (HCG). The letter ‘was dated April 13, 2018 and claimed that the twenty cities and towns of Hampshire County may be jointly responsible for $4.6 million dollars of lia faced by the HCG if it should close. ‘This claim has led to a number of news articles which have reported concerns among municipal leaders, and we want you to know that we share your concerns, We believe that the HCG letter was very misleading with regard to discussions that HCG leadership has had with us and with other current and former members of the Hampshire County legislative delegation. Specifically, the HCG letter implies that legislators believe that the municipalities share responsibility for the HCG liabilities. The sentence from the HCG letter that wwe find most concerning reads as follows: “According to our analysis and discussions with the legislative delegation, in the absence of HCG, these costs would likely revert to the towns.” We want to assure you that this statement relative to the legislative delegation is entirely false. At no time in any of our discussions with officials from the HCG did we indicate support for that position, and in fact we expressed skepticism when it was raised There is no question that the HCG is in a precarious financial position. Analysis has shown that it is not a sustainable operation in its eurent condition, We have been clear to the HCG that we do not believe that financial assistance is forthcoming from the Commonwealth for either the annual operational shortfall or the long-term legacy liabilities, In the absence of any proof otherwise, we also do not see why these costs should be the responsibility of the cities and towns, of Hampshire County.Sincerely, Stephen Kulik State Representative First Franklin District enka Susannah M, Whips) State Representative Second Franklin District FEMA Solomon Goldstein- Rose State Representative Thitd Hampshire District John W. Scibak State Representative Second Hampshire District ‘Todd M. Smola State Representative First Hampden District ‘Phomas M. Petrolati State Representative Seventh Hampden District