Board of Finance approves DMV lookup line, trims planner pay and makes other budget adjustments in workshop

At a special Board of Finance budget workshop on March 18, members approved a new $380 line to give the Board of Assessment Appeals access to a state motor-vehicle lookup service, trimmed a proposed town-planner salary to $25,000 at 19 hours per week, and made multiple other small cuts and adjustments as they refined the town’s draft 2026–27 budget.

The Board unanimously approved adding a “DMV lookup access” line after a representative for the Board of Assessment Appeals explained the need during public comment: “What we're doing is we're just trying to affirm that the budget request made from our meeting on 09/15/2025 was adopted and put into place,” the representative said, and described training and lookup costs that together totalled about $1,905 with the lookup portion at $380. The motion to add the line passed by roll call, 7–0.

Members also debated a proposed $30,000 planner/project-manager line and whether to set the role at 19 or 20 hours (20 hours would have triggered benefits). Concerned about triggering benefit costs immediately, a member moved to reduce the line to $25,000 structured as a 19-hours-per-week position; that motion passed unanimously, 7–0. The chair said the board still supports planning capacity but wants an arrangement that does not immediately trigger benefit obligations.

Why it mattered: the board said rising health-insurance costs and an upcoming town revaluation have already tightened the budget. Members flagged a recent consortium premium update — discussed during the meeting — and voted to raise the health/dental line to reflect a 21% premium increase after staff noted an additional 6 percentage points above earlier projections. The change was approved 7–0 to avoid underbudgeting those costs.

Several smaller items were changed after line-by-line review. The board reduced or reallocated modest supply, software and equipment requests across departments after staff and department representatives explained actuals and contractual commitments. Notable outcomes included a reduction of assessor office-supplies, a decision to zero an underused building equipment line after review of historical blueprint/printing charges, a reduction to community-center janitorial supplies to account for an incoming kitchen and increased use, and a cut to the community-center computer request after members asked staff to look for available used machines from town partners.

Representative outcomes and votes at the meeting included: - DMV lookup access line (Board of Assessment Appeals): added, vote 7–0. - Town planner line: reduced to $25,000 (19 hours/week), vote 7–0. - Office-supplies adjustments (assessor/other departments): several reductions approved (roll calls ranged from unanimous to majority depending on attendance). - Health/dental: budget increased to model a 21% premium jump, vote 7–0. - Community-center new computer: cut from $2,500 to $1,000 with direction to explore reused devices, recorded vote passed (4–2).

Quotes and context: the board repeatedly pointed to the upcoming revaluation as a driver of uncertainty. One member said sales in the market have “gone crazy” and that an assessment reval will likely push many values higher, creating both an administrative workload for appeals and pressure on the mill rate math. On software and payroll, staff flagged an expiring QuickBooks support/license in May and presented a roughly $3,000 upgrade estimate; board members discussed contingency vs. next-year funding for that expense.

Next steps: the board scheduled a special, joint-focused budget workshop for Tuesday the 24th at 7 p.m. and agreed to start its next meeting earlier the following evening to accommodate a limited agenda and invite members of the Board of Selectmen to resolve outstanding items. Staff were asked to follow up on specific line-item clarifications (e.g., assessor mileage usage, community-center programming vs. contractual movie licensing, potential reused school computers) and to circulate updated spreadsheets before the next session.

The meeting ended after a final round of public comments and a brief update that auditors’ fees will rise modestly next year; the board adjourned after unanimous consent at the end of the session.