The Plaistow Budget Committee opened a public hearing Jan. 7 to review the town's proposed operating budget of $13,306,304 and to present a slate of warrant articles that will appear on the town warrant. The committee read departmental totals and then read each warrant article aloud for the public record.

The committee chair (on the record) summarized department budgets: the executive department at $282,684 (about a 3% increase), town clerk at $137,952 (nearly flat), finance up about 16% to $173,000, assessing at $130,420 (10% increase), police operations and contractual costs shown with a roughly 10% increase, the fire department up about 4%, and a total operating budget (before water) of $13,306,304. The separate water enterprise budget was presented at $510,516 (a 2% decline), which the committee noted is funded by the water enterprise and not by general taxation.

During the hearing the committee read a series of capital and trust warrant articles, including but not limited to: establishment of a contingency fund (article P‑25‑04) with $85,000 from the general fund unassigned balance; deposits to highway equipment, building, library, transportation infrastructure, reevaluation, fire apparatus, fire equipment, fire radio, public safety communications, police vehicle, cemetery maintenance, and recreation capital reserve funds (various amounts stated on the record); authorization for the selectmen to negotiate a long‑term lease of the closed municipal landfill at 6 Wilder Drive for a solar energy array (article P‑25‑17); and the cell tower maintenance deposit (article P‑25‑18) and communications specialist position (P‑25‑19). For most articles the committee read the recommended amounts, the vote requirement (majority), and whether the article was recommended by the board of selectmen and the budget committee as reflected in the posted warrant.

The committee noted some items where the balance in an existing reserve fund "was not known at this date, December 31, 2024." For the water operating article the speaker read that if the article is defeated a lower operating budget figure would apply, and cited RSA provisions governing potential special meetings (transcript references included RSA 44:13 X and XI and RSA 31:98‑a and RSA 32:11 in discussion of contingency and fund usage).

Committee members closed the public hearing portion of the meeting and set the deliberative session for Saturday, Feb. 1, at 9 a.m., to continue consideration of the warrant articles and the proposed budget. The committee asked committees and department chairs to schedule any follow‑up meetings through respective committee chairs and the town manager to manage limited staff capacity.

No binding votes on the other listed warrant articles were recorded at the hearing; the committee read amounts, recommendations and legal references into the record as part of the public hearing process.