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Sandwich budget committee presses for clearer departmental numbers, eyes NHMBB bond and bridge engineering costs
Summary
At its Dec. 22 meeting, Sandwich selectmen and the budget committee reviewed year‑to‑date finances and focused on improving departmental data for the 2026 budget, weighing NH Municipal Bond Bank timing for a proposed police building, and considering engineering and assessment proposals for local bridges.
Selectman Joanne Haight and the Sandwich budget committee met Dec. 22 to review year‑to‑date finances and set priorities for the 2026 budget, focusing discussion on clearer departmental numbers, financing options for a proposed police building and upcoming bridge work.
Courtney Delaney, staff member, summarized year‑to‑date expenditures and revenues and estimated most department budgets will be roughly 95% expended. Committee member Jeff Cole said the budget process had been “productive overall” and recommended quantifying some costs by per‑person use to help explain impacts to taxpayers. Roger Plimmer, a committee member, said several departmental meetings lacked concrete figures and left members feeling underprepared; others echoed his concern.
Delaney said the Town cannot participate in the January New Hampshire Municipal Bond Bank (NHMBB) sale but would be eligible for a July sale and suggested timing a police building financing around that window if NHMBB interest rates prove substantially better than community banks. Derek Meredith, a committee member, noted Meredith Village Savings Bank estimated rates near 6%.
Members reviewed capital‑project estimates. Delaney presented a $57,000 engineering proposal to support bidding and construction preparation for the Basket Street Bridge; committee members questioned whether that figure was high and discussed whether smaller towns could collaborate to reduce engineering costs. Separately, Delaney reported a $26,000 proposal to assess all municipally owned bridges (excluding those in the Sandwich Notch) and the Millbridge culvert; Roger Plimmer requested clarity on State bridge nomenclature tied to the State’s redlist and asked Delaney to share the town’s comprehensive bridge listing.
Committee members agreed to raise the draft line for town building improvements to $40,000 based on contractor feedback. On capital reserves, Delaney and members discussed reducing a capital reserve offset for police cruiser replacement to plan for replacing a second cruiser and weighing use of unexpended fund balance (UFB) against deposits that could affect the 2027 budget and tax rate.
The group also discussed fire department planning: Delaney emphasized finalizing a scope of work for a consulting study before issuing requests for proposals and noted she had shared a scope used by Center Harbor and contacted that administrator about aligning studies. Members debated whether to wait for consultant recommendations before finalizing an on‑call pay structure intended to increase participation; they agreed that on‑call funds should be budgeted within payroll lines and that the Fire Chief’s buy‑in and the town’s willingness to implement consultant recommendations remain open questions.
The committee set a public budget hearing for Monday, Feb. 9 at 6 p.m. and scheduled budget committee meetings Jan. 5 and tentatively Jan. 20. Roger Plimmer agreed to draft the committee’s submission for the town report and circulate it to members.
Meeting minutes show these were discussions and planning steps; no formal budget appropriations or final financing decisions were recorded at this meeting.
