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Select Board delays warrant‑article votes as town faces double‑digit spending pressures
Summary
After reviewing department budgets and multiple warrant articles, the board recessed the public hearing to allow a detailed review; staff flagged scenarios that could push total town expenditures up to about 15% if certain projects are taxed in a single year.
Chair (speaker 1) and finance staff presented a summary of the 2026 budget packet and warned that a combination of departmental increases and multiple warrant articles could drive the town’s total expenditures sharply higher for 2026. Select Board member (speaker 2) and staff urged a pause to give the finance committee and select board time to produce recommendations and alternative scenarios before voters decide warrant articles.
Why it matters: The board’s preliminary analysis showed two illustrative scenarios: paying to remove the Pierce Pond Dam through a single‑year tax appropriation could raise total town expenditures by roughly 15% over last year; financing the same project through bonding would reduce that near‑term increase to about 9.5% (numbers presented by staff and finance). Those scenarios exclude some warrant amendments added during the meeting, which would further raise the total.
Notable budget figures presented on the record included the ambulance proposed budget of $498,083 (speaker 6), library general‑government maintenance proposal of $69,600 (chair’s readout), a requested safety‑complex maintenance line of $72,000 to cover a $15,000 fire‑pump repair and deferred maintenance (staff, speaker 6), and an aggregate general‑government buildings total around $413,979 after amendments. Board members asked department heads for more detailed, prioritized maintenance lists and dollar breakdowns to identify tens‑of‑thousands‑dollars savings where possible.
Public Works (speaker 10) urged approval of a linked set of warrant articles that would direct $100,000 annually into a paving/capital program while preserving a revolving fund (~$317,000 currently) that can be flexibly used for paving, gravel‑road projects or equipment. He argued such multi‑year planning will stabilize road program funding and reduce repeated single‑year tax spikes.
Board action: Given the scale and number of moving parts, the chair recessed the public hearing and scheduled a follow‑up Select Board meeting and public hearing for Tuesday, Jan. 20 at 7 p.m. Staff were asked to circulate reconciled figures, revised warrant language for DRA review where needed, and detailed maintenance priorities for high‑cost facilities before that meeting.
