Once October arrives, the Select Board begins meeting most Friday mornings (open to the public) with the Town Administrator and often the Road Agent, to begin reviewing expenditures in the different town departments. Many questions are asked: Did we have enough resources to carry out the day to day business? Were there any unexpected problems needing extra funds? Do we need to change a department’s allocation up or down to reflect the actual needs? What are our long term needs laid out in the Capital Improvement Plan and what do we need to do to secure plans for the future? How do we take care of the town’s needs while keeping the tax rate at a reasonable level?
Some of our work is laid out in increases or decreases to the operating budget. Others need heavier allocations to Capital Reserve Funds or Expendable Trust Funds to take care of larger projects or savings for the future.
For 2017, we have been pleased to see that we have leveled out in many areas, after seeing increases in past years to bring departments up to current standards. For example, after hiring 2 full time employees for the highway department, and establishing a line for special maintenance projects and maintenance equipment, the highway budget is only up $10,680.
Half of that amount, $5,600. is due to the addition of Blackwater Park care and maintenance to the Highway budget from Recreation. Technology Information is only up $2,816. this year after a more than $10,00. increase last year.
A new program at the Transfer Station is mostly responsible for bringing that budget up by $6,854. The Transfer Station is now open Friday afternoons for contractors and commercial waste. This means shorter lines for residents on Saturday and allows closer inspection of loads on Fridays.
One more noticeable increase to the budget is in the Forest Fire line. The Forest Fire truck lease payment of $15,687, which came out of a warrant article last year, is now in the operating budget for the next 2 years of the 3 year lease period.
Decreases to the budget are smaller overall, but come from more areas of the budget. Town Clerk budget is down by $5,600. due to a quieter election year. 2017 has only one Election-Town Meeting Day, as opposed to 4 last year.
The Legal line is down by $4,875. because some of the utility assessment appeals have been settled. Cemeteries is down $4,812. due mostly to fewer projects needed this year. In Recreation, the money for Blackwater Park care and maintenance was moved to the Highway Department resulting in a $5,500 decrease in Recreation.
The final significant decrease is basically eliminating the line for Interest on Tax Anticipation Notes (TAN). With the twice a year billing, we no longer need to borrow money to get through the year.
Overall, the operating budget increases amount to $55,472, and the decreases amount to $25,858. This brings the total budget increase to $24,014, or a 1.49% increase.