Stratford Selectboard advances 2025 budgets to town hearing

The Stratford Selectboard agreed to advance several proposed 2025 departmental budgets to the town’s annual budget hearing in February, board members said Monday.

Presenter Chris Caron, speaking by phone, reviewed the Conservation Funding proposal and said the board agreed to move that proposal forward. Ryan Yakis presented the proposed 2025 budgets for Town & Buildings and Parks & Recreation and the board likewise agreed to advance those budgets. Suzanne Goulet, a staff member, discussed the Selectmen’s Office budget — covering executive and financial budgets, legal matters, payroll and ambulance funding — and the board agreed to move that proposal to the town hearing as well.

The moves do not constitute final adoption; they send each department’s proposed spending to the public town budget hearing, where voters and town officials can review and amend the proposals. The board did not record individual roll-call votes for the budget transfers in the transcript; the items were noted as agreed by the Selectboard and will appear on the Feb. 5, 2025 Town Budget Hearing agenda.

Budget presenters gave only summary-level details during the meeting; the Selectboard expects department staff to provide more detailed line-item information at the February hearings. The town posted a reminder that the Town Budget Hearing is scheduled for Feb. 5, 2025 at 6:00 p.m.; the School Budget Hearing is scheduled for Feb. 12, 2025 at 5:30 p.m.

The board did not take further budget action at the Dec. 30 meeting; the items will return for public review and potential revision at the hearings in February.