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Sabattus budget workshop recommends $1.1 million police budget after trimming equipment and insurance lines
Summary
At a town budget workshop, committee members recommended a $1.1 million FY27 police budget after reducing a $102,894 insurance request to about $83,123 and trimming a general equipment line; members moved the recommendation to the warrant with a voice vote and noted follow‑up on capital and fire budgets.
At a Sabattus town budget workshop, members recommended a $1.1 million FY27 police budget after adjusting payroll, PTO and benefit lines and trimming equipment requests. Rocky moved to recommend a $1.1 million police budget and Mark seconded; the committee recorded the motion as approved and will forward the recommendation to the warrant process.
The committee began by reconciling updated police figures from a spreadsheet (reported in the meeting as approximately $1,156,917). Staff said $40,176 had been added for PTO payouts; members discussed when PTO should be banked versus expensed and whether prior‑year payouts already reduce future liabilities. The group also reviewed clothing/uniform lines, noting academy rules require uniform purchases and debating a clothing line that had been discussed at $10,750 and a separate figure of $14,500.
Members scrutinized the health insurance line. The draft included $102,894 for premiums; one presenter recalculated costs based on current enrollment (four employees on coverage, two opting out), applying a 9% premium assumption and proposing reducing the budgeted insurance total to about $83,123. The presenter summarized the math and urged the committee to use current enrollment rather than an inflated staffing assumption. Committee members debated that method and whether insurance increases were already accounted for elsewhere but did not overturn the recommendation.
The group also targeted the general equipment and software lines for savings. The committee noted the police general equipment line had been requested at $15,600 while year‑to‑date spending was far lower; members recommended cutting that line to $5,000, citing multi‑year contracts (Axon camera licensing was cited elsewhere as a $25,000 capital request) and past spending trends as justification. Together, the insurance and equipment adjustments, plus PTO and payroll tax reconciliations, produced the committee’s recommended $1.1 million police figure.
Rocky formally moved the recommendation; Mark seconded. The meeting recorded the result as “All in favored; abstaining” and advanced the recommendation for inclusion on the warrant. The committee assigned staff follow‑up to produce clearer documentation behind each line (detailed expense reports and the staffing list) and to present final numbers at the next meeting.
