Town manager outlines 2026 budget, proposes $450,000 use of reserves and possible opioid-fund offset for new ambulance unit

Town Manager Mark Nelson on Feb. 10 presented a proposed 2026 town budget that he said would increase net town expenditures by 3.38% and would raise the mill rate to about $33.05 (excluding the fire district).

Nelson said the administration is recommending a “strategic use of a small amount of reserves” — $450,000 from the town’s unassigned fund balance — to mitigate a projected tax increase tied in part to a projected $600,000 drop in motor vehicle tax receipts this year and about a $1.5 million rise in debt service.

The recommendation comes alongside other measures meant to restrain borrowing and debt service. Nelson told the board that the Board of Finance had issued guidance limiting bonding to $10 million every two years, and that the capital improvement plan (CIP) and capital nonrecurring (CNR) requests had been scaled back to respect that guidance.

“Anything that is on the CNR ... is obviously cash for capital,” Nelson said. He added the…