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Tamworth board hears budget update, seeks $71,000 in savings and options to fix expendable trusts
Summary
At its Nov. 21 meeting, the Tamworth Select Board received a $5.165 million budget update, was told $443,000 of unassigned fund balance had been earmarked, and discussed three options to amend expendable trust language and a $72,000 EV charging project funded by the Tamworth Foundation and a pending state grant.
Speaker 2 told the Select Board on Nov. 21 that the working draft of the municipal budget stood at about $5,165,000 and that the board had identified $443,000 in planned appropriations from the town’s unassigned fund balance. He said estimated non-property-tax revenues are about $2,290,000, leaving an initial tax effort near $2,656,000.
“Right now, without any assigned fundals, we’re at 2.656,” Speaker 2 said, and recommended the board find roughly $71,000 in reductions to avoid using additional fund balance. He said that $71,000 could be achieved by asking larger departments to trim lines or by relying on expendable trusts in some circumstances.
The board also discussed two specific additions Speaker 2 said were new to the draft: roughly $72,000 for EV charging stations, which Speaker 2 described as net-neutral because it would be funded by the Tamworth Foundation and a state grant that has not yet been awarded; and about $15,000–$16,000 the town had spent from an expendable trust to cover separation obligations, which Speaker 2 recommended refilling to approximately $30,000 via a warrant article.
Speaker 2 walked members through three legal/options pathways to broaden or correct the language governing three expendable trusts (town buildings, equipment, and infrastructure): (1) amend each trust by separate warrant article (which would likely require a two-thirds vote at Town Meeting), (2) dissolve the three trusts and recreate them with corrected language (majority vote), or (3) consolidate the funds into a single, broader-purpose expendable trust (majority vote). He and other members discussed tradeoffs, including whether the current wording limits the trusts to repairs and precludes purchasing replacements.
Board members pressed for practical next steps. Several members suggested asking department heads—particularly highway, police, fire, and the transfer station—to identify where they could trim 10–12% across certain lines to meet the $71,000 target. Speaker 1 said detailed line-item review would be required and recommended tighter repair lines in departmental budgets where appropriate.
What’s next: the board plans to continue budget work at upcoming meetings, pursue targeted department reductions, and prepare warrant articles if they decide to advance language changes for expendable trusts. The schedule for public hearings and any warrant articles will be set in advance of Town Meeting.
