Select Board debates cuts and savings to meet budget-committee target; departments signal limited flexibility

At the Dec. 2 Select Board meeting, board members and department heads debated where to find reductions to bring the proposed municipal budget closer to the budget committee's recommended target. The conversation stretched across police, highway, fire, solid waste and building lines and focused on which accounts were legally or practically available for cuts.

Police leadership warned that training, retirement and wage increases leave little discretionary room and highlighted recent hiring and the field training program for new officers. The chief reported 14 weeks of FTO and noted the police academy schedule; members discussed whether new hires could enter the academy sooner and complete portions of field training incrementally.

Highway staff proposed trimming projected inflationary increases in asphalt maintenance and reallocated an earlier proposed increase so core projects (box culvert on North Road, Crowley Road work) remain funded. Board members flagged specific revolving or capital accounts — recycling center capital reserve, highway block grant, and special-detail policing funds — as possible sources for projects but noted statutory or earmark constraints on their use.

Several members said insurance and retirement cost increases are outside local control and accounted for a substantial portion of the requested cuts. The board agreed to present the revised package and defend its allocations at the budget committee hearing the following night; no final reductions were adopted at the meeting.