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Budget committee recommends $857,448 public‑safety total after debate over fire wages and stipends
Summary
The Town of Buckfield Budget Committee voted to recommend a public‑safety budget of $857,448 after agreeing to keep the manager wage line, raise turnout‑gear funding by $1,500 and add $500 for communications equipment; committee members flagged stipend accounting and time‑tracking concerns.
The Town of Buckfield Budget Committee voted to recommend a revised public‑safety budget that the committee recorded as $857,448, accepting manager‑column language that preserves a higher wage line while adopting modest equipment increases.
Staff member (S3) told the committee he had inserted both his manager numbers and figures sent by the department for transparency and fairness, and that the two wage totals differed by about $1,750 (his manager figure was presented as roughly $94,075 versus a submitted $93,000). He recommended keeping the manager wage line and adding $1,500 to the turnout‑gear line and $500 to communications equipment. Agency official (S1) described the need for updated turnout gear and said equipment prices have risen since last year.
The committee discussed how prior stipend reductions and recent pay adjustments affect the budget math. Agency official (S1) said stipends had been reduced in past years (a $4,000 chief stipend reduced to $1,000 in a previous cycle) and warned that restoring stipends would require adding several thousand dollars back into the wage/ stipend lines. Staff member (S3) noted the department currently reports call and admin hours on run sheets every six months and said the lack of an auditable time‑stamp trail creates uncertainty for external reviewers.
After debate over whether to retain manager or chief wage presentations and how to account for stipends and per‑diem coverage, the committee agreed to the staff recommendation: keep the manager wage line, increase turnout gear by $1,500 and communications equipment by $500. Chair (S2) moved and the committee voted to accept the changes; the vote was recorded as unanimous among participants present.
Committee members directed staff to reword the proposed wage/stipend presentation in the budget worksheet so the $94.07x figure remains the line item with stipends shown separately, and asked staff and the department to meet to reconcile call‑hour reporting and stipend accounting before the select‑board presentation.
The committee noted a separate capital request for a cascade system; Agency official (S1) said he proposed $10,000 from the operating budget with the remainder to come from reserves and that the department is applying for a grant to cover the rest but cannot guarantee an award.
