The Ossipee Select Board voted to amend a warrant article adjusting the proposed zoning-truck appropriation and to authorize a tax anticipation note (TAN) to cover temporary cash-flow shortfalls.

Speaker 2 moved to amend the warrant article for the zoning truck, setting the requested amount at $1,210,000; the board seconded and approved the change, which moved the town’s bottom-line operating figure to $9,602,111 and reduced the projected operating increase to 1.7% (not including any school warrant article). Speaker 2 explained the board discussed deferring the truck purchase to save roughly $45,000 in the near-term and to present a leaner recommended budget to the budget committee.

On the town’s cash-flow situation, board members debated why the town must use a TAN. Speaker 2 said a posting error by West Ossipee’s village district left the town unable to set the tax rate until the precincts’ paperwork was corrected, creating a likely month-long delay in billings. The board then moved and approved a motion authorizing the town administrator to arrange with Bank of New Hampshire the issuance and sale of a tax anticipation note for fiscal 2025 in the principal amount of $3,240,000 at a per-annum rate of 4.875%, drawn down as needed.

Board members discussed the cost of carrying the TAN and remedies for the underlying posting error. One member asked whether any individual could be held financially responsible for the mistake; the board’s legal reading was that there is no RSA basis to force an individual to pay the interest, so taxpayers would carry the cost unless the town pursued civil recovery.

Next steps: The TAN will be repaid as taxes are collected; the board asked staff to monitor actual borrowing needs and the interest cost, and to report back once tax bills are issued and receivables are clear.