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Effingham budget committee endorses $2.51 million operating budget; projects small tax impact
Summary
The Effingham budget committee recommended a $2,514,427 operating budget (5–1). Officials say the town will use $50,000 from unassigned fund balance; if all warrant articles pass the estimated tax impact is about 26¢ per $1,000 of assessed value.
The Effingham budget committee recommended a $2,514,427 operating budget for 2026, the committee chair said at a public hearing on Feb. 2. The chair said $2,464,427 of the total is expected to be raised by taxation and $50,000 will come from the town's unassigned fund balance; the budget committee recommended the operating budget on a 5–1 vote.
The chair emphasized that recent accounting-code updates required by state reporting may make some line-item changes appear larger than they are. Members discussed several departmental line items in detail, including an increase in election expenses because the town expects three elections next year and an uptick in information-technology spending tied to a planned website/broadcast application.
On IT, JT (a town staff member) told the committee the town signed a contract with a broadcaster/texting application late last year but has not yet been granted access to the trial application and has not billed for the service. "We are actively working on a plan to potentially switch to a new vendor," JT said, adding the town is nearing a decision point as the multiyear contract comes to an end.
Committee members also noted line-item shifts in financial administration, assessing and public-safety detail lines; a member asked whether increases in ambulance and dispatch costs reflect higher vendor rates. The chair replied that renegotiated pricing reduced a previously posted dispatch line from roughly $18,400 to $5,600, and the budget uses reserves in part to smooth those changes.
Asked about the overall tax effect if all warrant articles pass, the chair said the committee projects a tax impact of "26¢ per thousand," and explained that using unassigned fund balance partially offsets the change. The chair noted that the exact impact would vary depending on how much of the unassigned fund balance is drawn down.
The committee concluded its page‑by‑page review and scheduled a follow-up procedural meeting on Feb. 24 to sign cleaned-up warrant documents and finalize any small corrections.
