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Brentwood budget committee approves insurance and general government budgets, delays other budgets until select board sign-off
Summary
The Brentwood Municipal Budget Committee approved the select board's proposed 2026 insurance and general government budgets and agreed not to review budgets that have not yet been formally approved and forwarded by the select board; members also pressed for clearer written communication to department heads about the select board's 2.8% guidance.
The Brentwood Municipal Budget Committee on Nov. 24 approved the select board's proposed 2026 insurance budget of $196,120 and the general government budget of $66,825, and agreed not to take up any departmental budgets that the select board has not yet voted and forwarded to the committee.
The vote on the insurance account followed discussion about how the town's insurer calculates costs. The chair presented the select board's insurance figure — $196,120, an increase of $10,009 or 5.4% — and members questioned whether workers' compensation and other insurance lines reflect open positions and payroll trends. A staff member explained the insurer uses payroll, loss-ratio adjustments and multi-year trends to set the rate.
The committee also debated whether to review budgets that the select board has not yet formally approved. "They made it very clear that my role here is to vote in alignment with whatever they voted on," said Letty, a select board member, describing the select board's expectation of its representative. The chair said she had checked the RSA for the budget committee and that the statute allows the ex officio member to vote independently, a point that helped prompt members to agree they would not open or act on budgets until the select board had voted and sent revised proposed budgets.
On general government, committee members noted a large decrease in the proposed figure: $66,825, a reduction of $45,001 (40.2%), largely driven by cuts to the grant-writer line. Members flagged several accounting and communication issues they want fixed before final adoption: payments to the Brentwood newsletter appear to be posted in the wrong operating lines, and an "expenditure-offset" line is being used as a small contingency for unanticipated select-board-authorized expenses. "Even when these things are decided and everybody knows through talking, I think documenting this decision is important," a remote member said, urging the select board or administration to send a written email to department heads clarifying the 2.8% guidance.
Committee members discussed outreach options for the coming months, including the cost to print and mail postcards for town information or a potential warrant article on a new police facility; a rough cost estimate mentioned during the meeting for producing and mailing about 3,000 postcards ranged from roughly $1,200 to $3,000.
The committee set a tentative follow-up meeting for Dec. 20 at 6 p.m., to be confirmed later, and adjourned the Nov. 24 meeting. The chair closed by wishing attendees a happy Thanksgiving.
