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Halifax finance panel eyes reclaiming multi-year unused warrant appropriations to shore up budget
Summary
The Halifax Finance Committee reviewed year-end budget status and proposed a warrant article to close town-meeting appropriations older than three years and return unspent balances to the general fund, while staff said final transfers must wait until bills arrive and FY26 is closed on July 15.
The Halifax Finance Committee on June 29 discussed reclaiming multi-year, unused town-meeting appropriations to boost the general fund and address a looming fiscal shortfall.
Chair Jim pressed the committee to consider a special-town-meeting warrant article that would "pull all those back into the general fund because you just can't have them sitting there," pointing to roughly $50,000 to $75,000 in stale appropriations, including an example of a $15,000 roof item.
Town administrator Lindsay told the committee final line-item transfers can be completed through July 15 and cautioned that some June bills (electric, heating, gas and oil) are still arriving and must be processed first to produce accurate totals. "Line item transfers can be done till July 15," she said, and emphasized that the overall departmental totals remain within the voted appropriations even when individual lines look overspent due to account coding or encumbrances.
Lindsay described a few specific accounting issues the committee raised: an unspent $4,000 cable legal line that was carried forward but not used, an open purchase order for stormwater of $10,413 that is recorded as an encumbrance, and the possibility that some bills were posted to the wrong stormwater account. She said the stormwater account appears short by "almost $20,000" on the report but that figure includes the $10,413 encumbrance and requires a review with Kathy and Steve to determine correct coding.
Committee members also questioned the school report showing a roughly $2,000,000 surplus. Lindsay noted a large lump-sum payroll (about $700,000 to $800,000) paid at the end of the school year and other outstanding bills (including a roof invoice she estimated near $40,000) that will reduce that surplus.
On broader fiscal posture, Lindsay said the town—urrently has a reserve-to-free-cash transfer of $81,000 and that the town—aces a general deficit she estimated around $1.48to$1.49 million; the committee discussed possible state assistance but said timing before the July 15 closeout is uncertain.
Chair Jim asked staff to check the process for placing a warrant article to close out appropriations older than three years; staff agreed to confirm steps with Steve. The committee set its next meeting for July 13 at 6 p.m. in the town hall selectmen—onference room and noted the selectmen will close the town warrant on July 7, which may require a brief committee meeting before that date if the committee wishes to add an article.
The committee did not take final votes on any appropriation changes at the June 29 meeting; members instructed staff to review outstanding bills and account coding and to report back before final year-end transfers on or before July 15.
