Selectmen present 2026 budget and 12 warrant articles, including termination of Swansea Revenue Development District

At the Jan. 13 meeting, Select Board staff presented the town’s proposed fiscal year 2026 operating budget and summarized a slate of 12 warrant articles to appear on the 2026 ballot.

Speaker 5 said the proposed operating budget totals $8,939,036, representing a $569,036 (6.8%) increase from the 2025 budget, and noted the proposed figure is about $47,000 over the default budget. The presenter described major cost drivers including personnel, health insurance (up 6.7%) and property and liability insurance (up 26.32%), and cited an $89,618 increase related to the ambulance contract with Cheshire County.

The board also walked through articles that will appear on the warrant. Notable items included an article to terminate the Swansea Revenue Development District (a tax increment finance district) and a companion article to rescind the remaining $900,000 of the original bond authorization from 1999; Speaker 5 said rescinding the unused balance requires a three-fifths ballot vote and that once debts are paid remaining TIF funds could be distributed to the town’s general fund in accordance with state law.

Other warrant items discussed were expendable trust and capital reserve appropriations for property revaluations and Town Hall repairs; an article to create a new infrastructure expendable trust under RSA 31:19-a with an initial $10,000 appropriation; a governance article to rescind the SB2 official-ballot format and return to traditional open town meeting; updates to elderly property-tax exemptions; and a proposed increase to the optional veteran service-connected disability credit (citing RSA 72:35).

During the budget hearing a rail-trail committee member flagged a line-item discrepancy for the rail trail budget and staff agreed to check the figure. The board will continue public hearings and hold deliberative sessions before the warrant vote.