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Selectmen hear ambulance budget shortfalls tied to placeholder amounts; staff to review accounting and revenue offsets
Summary
Selectmen were told May 12 that ambulance budget lines had been entered with $1 placeholders during the budget process and that the department could be $30,000–$40,000 over certain expense lines this year.
Selectmen discussed the town ambulance budget during the May 12 meeting after staff reported that several expense lines (fuel, third‑party billing, medical supplies, equipment maintenance) had been entered with $1 placeholders in the adopted budget, producing a projected year‑end shortfall in those lines of roughly $30,000 to $40,000.
A board member said the placeholders appeared as $1 in the printed deliberative materials, and asked whether the $1 entries were intentional or a data‑entry/accounting error. Staff said the total appropriation for the department had not changed but the line‑item placement produced the apparent shortfalls. The selectmen asked staff to review the budget entry history, including the deliberative session record, to determine when and why the placeholders were set.
Staff told the board they were told that expected revenue — including charges to a revolving fund and third‑party billing — would offset the overages; board members noted that an anticipated revenue offset does not remove the fact the expense lines will read as overbudget at year end unless formally adjusted.
Selectmen directed staff to listen to the deliberative session recording and to trace who entered the dollar placeholders so the board can determine whether an amendment or accounting correction is needed.
