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Barnstead board reviews budget, audit schedule and plans joint meeting with Pittsville
Summary
Board members discussed year-end balancing, said the town cannot run a deficit, noted Sanderson will review 2024 audits at the end of January, and agreed to a Jan. 20 meeting with Pittsville to explore shared services and equipment swaps.
The Barnstead board spent a significant portion of its meeting reviewing year-end budget procedures, the upcoming audit schedule and an inter-town meeting with neighboring Pittsville to explore shared services.
When resident Frank North asked whether the town closed the 2025 budget in the black, a board member replied, "We cannot run a deficit. That would be illegal," explaining the town may spend only what voters authorize and that surplus or leftover funds are typically used to buy down next year's tax rate. Officials described the year-end balancing process — which runs through Jan. 10 — and said some funds are encumbered while others can be applied to lower the tax rate the following year.
The board said Sanderson (a new auditing firm referenced in the meeting) is scheduled to begin a review of 2024 records at the end of January and will perform additional work for 2025. "So 2024 is audits done," one board member summarized; details of the audit timeline beyond the start date were not specified.
Members also agreed to meet with Pittsville on Jan. 20 to discuss opportunities to share services, mutual-aid arrangements and equipment pooling (for example, road rollers or shared plowing routes). The chair framed the meeting as exploratory: officials will look for small cost-saving opportunities such as buying supplies together or sharing vehicles and personnel to improve coverage across adjacent roads.
Board members discussed police/fire committee scheduling as well; the fire chief has been ill, and one member recommended circulating a questionnaire to collect committee feedback and compile a final report for the board. The meeting record closes with the board moving into nonpublic session under category B.
The transcript did not record a formal vote on budget policy changes or provide specific dollar-amount allocations for any new inter-town agreements; follow-up meetings and public notices were indicated as the next steps.
