Danville Budget Committee approves default FY2026 budget and multiple departmental budgets

The Danville Budget Committee on Jan. 6 approved the town's default FY2026 budget of $4,989,293 and a series of departmental budgets, while scheduling the Budget Public Hearing for Jan. 14 at 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall.

Chairperson Rob Collins presented line-item adjustments across departments and proposed several targeted cuts, including removing accumulated cost-of-living adjustments from the Board of Selectmen salary line and other discretionary reductions. The committee approved the General Government Executive budget (4130) at $212,135 on a 3-2 vote and approved personnel, building maintenance, insurance, fire, parks and several other budgets, with vote tallies recorded for each item.

The decisions matter because they set spending authority the town may present to voters and guide department operations through FY2026. Committee members flagged an unassigned fund balance that preliminarily exceeds $150,000, and members discussed potential uses of those funds, including a possible purchase of a K9 SUV for the police department.

Key outcomes included: - 4130 – General Government Executive: Approved $212,135. Chairperson Rob Collins proposed removing COLA increases from the Board of Selectmen pay line to return member pay to a baseline of $3,000; motion passed 3-2 (Collins, Overstreet, Reedy for; Hester, Drislane opposed). - 4155 – Personnel Administration: Approved $67,300 after Collins adjusted the group health/dental line to align with a reported family-plan cost; passed 4-1 (Hester opposed). - 4194 – Town Building Maintenance: Approved $98,269 after reductions of roughly $7,000; passed 4-1 (Hester opposed). - 4196 – Insurance (not otherwise allocated): Approved $92,500; amount set by Primex and Travelers; passed unanimously. - 4210 – Police: Reorganized compensation lines (creating P/T lines for training, prosecution/court and overtime) and enacted a net reduction of $36,910; approved 3-2 (see separate item for detail). - 4211 → 4414 – Animal Control Officer account: Committee moved the ACO account from 4211 to 4414 (Pest Control) after confirming 4211 was not present in the DRA template; approved unanimously. - 4215 – Ambulance: Approved budget of $0 by unanimous consent. - 4220 – Fire: Added professional services line 4220-03-390 and approved the Fire budget at $996,860; both passed unanimously. - 4520 – Parks and Recreation: Approved $49,106, including adding a mowing contract and discussing a $6,600 playground maintenance reduction; passed unanimously. - 4589 – Other Culture and Recreation: Adjusted from $25,250 to $30,250 to reflect anticipated $5,000 use of the recreation revolving fund; passed 3-1-1 (Hester opposed, Drislane abstained). - Default budget: Approved $4,989,293 by unanimous vote; the committee scheduled a follow-up meeting for Jan. 13 to review warrant articles and material before the public hearing.

Several approvals were unanimous, but the committee recorded 3-2 splits on major items including the General Government and Police budgets. Committee members and staff (Vale, who presented multiple budgets) agreed to circulate the worksheet of proposed adjustments for further review before the public hearing.

The committee adjourned at 9:50 p.m. The Budget Public Hearing is set for Wednesday, Jan. 14 at 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall.