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Board of Finance flags budget uncertainty as animal-control and regional services costs rise
Summary
At its Feb. 25 meeting the Board of Finance walked through a preliminary 2025 budget, heard the town administrator report newly executed grant paperwork and flagged major cost pressures — including a sharp animal-control invoice increase and a proposed 5% jump for a regional nonprofit service — while deferring final votes until updated reconciliations arrive.
The Board of Finance reviewed a preliminary 2025 budget and pressed staff for updated reconciliations and documentation after the town administrator, Jim, outlined several grant and capital developments and warned of rising service costs.
Jim told the board he had received the fully executed financial-assistance agreement tied to a legislative appropriation for the Veterans Field playscape, enabling staff to file a requisition covering the first three quarters. "The good news today was I received the fully executed agreement," Jim said, noting the town can begin submitting requisitions before exhausting project outlays.
The board spent most of its time on budget-to-actual questions. Members asked the treasurer and staff to explain several outlier items in the preliminary packet: clerk-fee receipts that appear high, an unexplained ‘‘4-90’’ penalty collection line and unusually large temporary-public-works salary entries. The treasurer said bank reconciliations and missing department reports were holding back a full update.
The rising cost of outsourced animal control drew repeated attention. Jim summarized recent conversations with the Northeastern Conference of Governments and said the vendor has proposed substantially higher charges for nonmember towns. "They are raising the costs considerably," he said, adding that alternatives — such as building an in-town facility or hiring a full-time warden — would create larger long-term expenses and regulatory requirements.
Board members also pressed for detail on a roughly 5% increase proposed by AHM, a regional nonprofit that provides school- and community-based services such as the AES mental-health support referenced by the board. Linda Fish, who has attended AHM oversight meetings in the past, said AHM remains a nonprofit that mixes municipal support, grants and program revenue and urged the board to weigh usage data before deciding whether to support the increase. Members asked staff to obtain a full AHM budget and comparative usage reports from neighboring towns.
Capital items and grant-funded projects were reported as moving forward. Jim said SLR has been selected as the construction-inspection consultant on the DOT-funded Long Hill Bridge project and that the town has USDA paperwork to start a generator application for town buildings. The Capital Improvement Program asked the fire department to secure additional quotes before the board considers a roughly $100,000 request for a new air-compressor and fill tanks to replace aging equipment.
Throughout the meeting members emphasized that many figures in the preliminary packet are placeholders. Rob, who chaired the session, reminded the board that several revenue lines tied to state proposals — for example municipal revenue-sharing in the governor’s proposed budget — are still uncertain and should be treated as "known unknowns" until the legislature acts.
The board recorded no final appropriations at the meeting; it scheduled additional budget work for upcoming meetings after staff supply reconciled bank and payroll information. The meeting closed after a motion to adjourn was made and seconded; members voted to adjourn.
