Town Edition
Berkshire County
Savoy, Massachusetts
Photo: MassDOT, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Savoy holds its annual town meeting in the fire house, and the minutes never say that the town voted. They record which neighbor moved the school budget, which neighbor seconded it, and that it carried unanimously. In a room that small, the people in the folding chairs are not an audience watching the legislature. They are the legislature. In 2026 forty-one residents cast a ballot to fill the town’s offices, which tells you exactly how much one vote is worth here. This guide shows you how to take your seat in the room.
Savoy at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Berkshire. Savoy is a small hilltown high in the northern Berkshires, spread across about 36 square miles of forest and farm, with Borden Mountain rising to 2,507 feet and Savoy Mountain State Forest covering much of the town.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected three-member Select Board that serves as the town’s executive. Justin Kaczowski chairs the board.
- Schools: Savoy runs its own small elementary school, Emma L. Miller Elementary, for about 36 students through grade 6, and votes the tuition that sends older students to school in neighboring districts. John Franzoni is Superintendent of the Northern Berkshire School Union, which Savoy shares.
How Savoy’s Government Works
Savoy runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Savoy is a member, and any of them can walk in, speak, and vote on the budget. Voters also elect a three-member Select Board and the School Committee that oversees the town’s elementary school. The Selectmen serve as the town’s chief executive officers: they set policy, approve the bills, make appointments to town boards and offices, and carry the town’s business between Town Meetings, working out of an office staffed by an executive assistant rather than through an appointed administrator. So the money is voted by whoever shows up, and the direction and the daily work both belong to the board the voters elect.
Town Meeting
The legislative body, and it is not a committee. Every registered voter in Savoy is a member. Town Meeting adopts the annual budget, passes town bylaws, and approves major spending. This is direct democracy in its literal sense.
Select Board
Three members elected town-wide to three-year terms. They set policy, sign the warrants that decide what reaches Town Meeting, appoint residents to many town boards, and serve as the town’s chief executive officers.
The Selectmen’s Office
The board’s own office at 720 Main Road carries the town’s daily paperwork, staffed by an administrative assistant who works for the three elected members.
School Committee
Elected town-wide. It sets policy for Emma L. Miller Elementary School, approves its budget, and shares a Superintendent through the Northern Berkshire School Union.
- Residents elect the three members of the Select Board, the School Committee, the Moderator, and a long ballot of working town offices.
- The Board of Selectmen runs the town between meetings: it sets policy, decides what goes on the Town Meeting warrant, and carries out what Town Meeting votes.
- Town Meeting votes the budget and the bylaws, and every registered voter present can vote.
- You take part: register at 16, vote at 18, and once you are registered you are already a member of Town Meeting.
Civic Calendar
- Select Board: meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month at 5:00 PM, and each agenda is posted in advance on the town website.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting is held in the spring, and the clerk posts the vote on every article afterward.
- Town elections: the 2026 Annual Town Election was held Wednesday, May 20, and 41 residents voted to fill the town’s offices. The next is in spring 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The state primary is September 1, 2026, and the clerk offers early voting and vote by mail.
Explore the Savoy Edition
- Select Board’s OfficeThe board that runs the town
- Select BoardYour three board members
- School CommitteeSuperintendent & committee
- Town DepartmentsWho does what at Town Hall
- Boards & CommissionsWhere residents serve
- LegislatorsYour voice in Boston & D.C.
- Savoy HistoryFrom New Seconk to Savoy
- DemographicsWho lives in Savoy
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataSavoy schools by the numbers
Your County Officials
Two of the people with the most direct power over your life are elected countywide. The district attorney decides who gets charged with a crime, and what they get charged with. The sheriff runs the county jail. Both of them answer to the voters of Berkshire County, and that includes Savoy. They appear on your ballot. Now you know what to look for.
Every county in Massachusetts elects its own, and the job is the same everywhere: the charging decisions, the jail. Look up any town in the state and see who holds these two offices there.
Your First Civic Action in Savoy
You do not have to wait until you can vote to be heard in your own town. Here is how to take a real concern to the people who decide.
- Pick the right body. Town policy, roads, and licenses go to the Select Board. Schools go to the School Committee. The budget and bylaws are voted by Town Meeting.
- Find the meeting. The Select Board meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month at 5:00 PM, and the agenda is posted in advance.
- Know your members. All three Select Board members are elected town-wide, so every one of them answers to you.
- Speak. Meetings are open to the public and residents may address the board. The town posts a request form to be added to an agenda.
- Or skip the trip. Report a pothole, a broken sign, or a plowing problem to the Highway Department at (413) 743-4290 x1008, which owns the repair.
- Town offices: 720 Main Road, Savoy. The Select Board office is (413) 743-4290 x1001, open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM.
- Town Clerk & agendas: Valerie Reiner, (413) 743-4290 x1006, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at townofsavoy.com.
- Public schools: Emma L. Miller Elementary School, (413) 743-1992, and the Northern Berkshire School Union office at (413) 664-9292.
Local government works best when residents show up. Find your Select Board, speak at a meeting on a Tuesday evening, or simply register to vote and take your seat at Town Meeting.