The Alton Board of Selectmen approved several budget items at its Nov. 25 meeting, including the fire department’s 2026 budget, the water department default budget, the townwide 2026 default budget and the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP).

Fire Chief (speaker 7) presented the department’s budget and noted adjustments to the full-time wage line tied to a 4% wage proposal; the chief initially referenced a total 2026 request of $1,339,040. Following line-item review and a corrected calculation presented by Laura (speaker 6), Chair moved to approve the fire department 2026 budget at $1,326,135; the motion was seconded and passed by voice vote.

Town administrator (speaker 3) summarized default budget adjustments required by law — health insurance, dental and other statutorily driven items — and reviewed department-by-department line-item status. The board approved the water department 2026 default budget at $590,653 after a brief review and then accepted the townwide 2026 default budget as presented (the default total was announced as $9,795,561). Selectmen praised the CIP committee’s conservative approach to delaying equipment purchases where feasible; the board accepted the CIP plan and the town administrator said he would present the CIP numbers as warn articles at the next meeting.

Where votes were recorded in the transcript, approvals were taken by voice; the transcript records affirmative "aye" responses rather than a roll-call tally. Where the transcript showed different totals presented during discussion, the board used the corrected figure supplied by staff at the time of the motion.