GREAT BARRINGTON — With three major funding requests coming before voters later this month and insufficient funds to pay for all of them, residents will once again be asked to decide what matters most.

A draft warrant for the special town meeting on June 29 requests a total of $1,428,863 in free cash. But Town Manager Liz Hartsgrove said the town only has $1,390,923 available.

"There's no possible way you can approve all three the way that they're written," Hartsgrove said. "There's no legal way. It cannot be done. So something's got to give."

After voters rejected a Proposition 2½ override last month, town officials used an additional $2 million in free cash to balance the budget, bringing the total amount used for that purpose to $4 million. But this left nearly $640,000 worth of items that were passed at the town meeting with funding contingent on the passage of the override, and are now not going to be funded.

Similarly, an article to reserve $1 million in free cash for items uncovered in an ongoing audit was tabled, as some argued finances are too tight to set aside funds for unidentified items.

After tapping millions of dollars in free cash to balance the budget, the town's remaining reserves are below the level recommended for a financially healthy municipality, leaving several previously approved items unfunded.

Now, three articles on the June 29 warrant seek to restore funding or address obligations left unresolved at the annual town meeting. Together, however, they exceed the amount of free cash available.

Two of the articles are citizen petitions that the Select Board isn't allowed to change, but could be adjusted on the town meeting floor.

One would appropriate nearly $350,000 in free cash to fund town services — including lifeguards, a skatepark monitor, Housatonic Water Works legal fees, the co-responder program, a parking control officer and lease support for the VFW and American Legion properties. All of those items were deemed discretionary and required the override passage for funding.

The second citizen petition would provide nearly $87,000 in additional funding for Southern Berkshire Ambulance Service, bringing the town's total contribution to $414,676 — the amount originally requested by the service.

The Select Board rejected that request during budget season, approving a 7 percent increase instead of the proposed 36 percent hike. Board members have repeatedly warned that steep annual increases — including 36 percent in 2024 and 48.5 percent in 2025 — are unsustainable.

The third article would transfer $1 million from free cash and $200,000 from the stabilization fund to cover outstanding payment obligations and related costs tied to capital projects.

The request comes in response to findings from a forensic audit and a lawsuit filed in April by Morais Concrete Service, which is demanding $869,395 from the town. According to an audit report, widespread contracting and procurement failures marred a street reconstruction project that ultimately ballooned roughly $1.5 million over budget.

According to the audit, unauthorized work was performed at Mason Library, and numerous change orders were signed by the Department of Public Works superintendent rather than the town manager, who holds sole contracting authority.

The report also found construction work frequently began without formal approval, and that project records were missing signatures and were disorganized.

The three articles on the special town meeting warrant together exceed available free cash by roughly $38,000. And even if voters reduced the requests enough to fit within the amount available, approving them all would effectively deplete the town's remaining free cash.

The Select Board and Finance Committee are scheduled to meet Tuesday to discuss both the audit findings and the special town meeting warrant.