Tamworth board reviews 2025 budget; proposes expendable trust to fund police staffing

Town staff presented an overview of the 2024 finances and a draft look ahead to 2025, telling the Select Board that the town appropriated about $5,270,000 in 2024 and began the year with roughly $2,500,000 in unassigned fund balance (about 20% of the budget). The presenter noted Tamworth’s policy target for unassigned funds is 8–15 percent (and cited state guidance of 5–17 percent), and said the current balance offers room to use reserves to reduce tax effort or designate capital purchases.

The presenter outlined major near‑term cost drivers for 2025: a state‑flagged bridge repair (estimated around $350,000), capital improvements including a cemetery vault ($60,000) and potential transfer‑station equipment, and other incremental hits that together create several hundred thousand dollars of new demand.

Police staffing dominated departmental discussion. The police chief described persistent hiring challenges and proposed creating an expendable trust (via warrant article) that would hold funds to pay for a third full‑time officer if and when the town can recruit one. The chief said the trust would allow the town to avoid annually raising and appropriating the full amount if the position remained unfilled, while preserving the funds for immediate use should a qualified candidate be hired.

Board members discussed the optics and mechanics of the trust, whether it should be funded from the unassigned fund balance or by allocation across department budgets, and how to present the approach in budget hearings. One board member noted the approach would prevent repeatedly appropriating funds that are then returned to the general fund when positions go unfilled; another emphasized the need for clear warrant language describing the trust’s scope (e.g., for one or two officer positions).

Staff also said forthcoming reductions in health‑insurance costs and modest CPI adjustments are tentatively included in the draft budget, and that further cuts or rephasing of CIP items remain options. The board instructed staff to continue refining the budget, examine whether some capital items can be pushed to later years, and prepare clear explanatory language for public budget hearings.

Next procedural steps: staff will circulate revised spreadsheets for review, the board will decide how much of the unassigned fund balance to use before final tax‑rate decisions, and warrant‑article language for any expendable trust will be prepared for voter consideration.