Kingston’s municipal budget committee approved a $9,941,369 operating budget for fiscal 2025 on a final vote after a daylong public hearing that included a contentious debate over the town clerk’s pay and how to allocate money for employee raises.

The budget committee, meeting as the Kingston Budget Committee, approved the package after several amendments: reducing the proposed town clerk/tax collector salary from a previously proposed $114,000 average-based figure down to $99,000; leaving a $30,000 placeholder for raises in contingency (with later questions about how that contingency can be used); and removing a $1,000,000 New Hampshire Department of Transportation bridge grant from the operating budget and asking the select board to present that grant as a separate warrant article to voters.

Why it matters: The vote ends the committee’s formal review and sets the townwide spending plan and the fiscal numbers that will appear on the town warrant. The debate highlighted tensions over how the town should correct perceived pay inequities, whether to use a townwide wage matrix or an ad hoc contingency, and how to present large grant-backed projects to voters.

The meeting opened with a line-by-line read of departmental requests and public testimony. Finance director Paula Mahoney answered budget-detail questions and read large line items — including a $334,000 entry noted as "POET Systems" in the executive budget for PFAS-related water system work. The committee approved the executive budget line, $853,878.91, earlier in the hearing by unanimous voice vote.

Tammy Bakke, the elected town clerk and tax collector, testified at length about her job duties, a history of pay disparities, and a personal request for an adjustment. After discussion and an amendment on the floor, the committee voted to set her FY2025 salary line at $99,000 (the committee recorded the motion to change 104,000 to 99,000 as approved).

Separately, committee members and town officials debated a $30,000 pool the select board had asked the committee to add to contingency to allow the select board to make performance-based adjustments later. Some members urged a broader, townwide approach — a percentage applied across full‑time town‑hall and DPW salaries — until a comprehensive wage matrix is adopted. Others argued professional outside assistance or a town administrator is needed to complete a fair, long-term pay plan.

On the Main Street bridge, committee members agreed to remove the $1,000,000 NH DOT Bridge Fund line from the operating budget and to ask the select board to place a non‑lapsing warrant article before voters that would accept and appropriate the bridge grant (the select board must still present and the committee must consider the warrant article at its next meeting).

The committee also held votes on the budget lines for departments including police, fire, highway, library and planning and zoning. Several smaller line-item adjustments were made during the hearing; committees and department heads answered clarifying questions about contracted services, part‑time staffing, and software and equipment increases.

What comes next: The select board is expected to post a warrant that will include the operating budget and the separate bridge warrant article. The budget committee scheduled follow‑up review of warrant articles and final adjustments at its next meeting.

Votes at a glance
- Executive budget (line-item): approved by voice vote (recorded earlier as unanimous).
- Town clerk/tax collector salary change (from the previously discussed figure to $99,000): motion to set the full‑time salary at $99,000 — approved (committee recorded the motion as passed).
- Removal of $1,000,000 NH DOT bridge grant from the operating budget to be warned as a separate warrant article: motion approved; select board to present warrant language.
- Final FY2025 operating budget, $9,941,369: approved by the budget committee on the final vote.

Quotes
"I am very uncomfortable sitting before you ... I just want to be treated fairly," Tammy Bakke, town clerk and tax collector, told the committee during public testimony, describing the stress of seeking a salary adjustment through the public process.

"We need a comprehensive solution," Select Board member and budget committee participant said during debate, urging the town to hire professional assistance or a town administrator to build an objective wage structure.

Ending
The committee closed the hearing after signaling a willingness to revisit a few items next week — chiefly the precise accounting and legal framing of contingency and the warrant article language the select board will submit for the $1,000,000 bridge grant. The budget as amended will move forward in the town’s warrant and final voter consideration.