Select Board sets Aug. 10 special meeting to address $656,000 fire truck funding gap

The Newcastle Select Board on July 3 voted to set a special town meeting for Aug. 10, 2026 to consider financing options for a planned $656,000 fire truck.

Staff told the board the town has $256,000 in a fire-truck reserve but faces a roughly $400,000 shortfall; after proposed transfers the net gap is about $210,000. "We have $256,000 in our fire truck reserve now," the staff member said. The board heard a staff proposal to move $190,000 from the severe-storm reserve and to appropriate about $150,000 of assigned municipal revenue-share funds to reduce the amount the town would ask taxpayers to raise.

Board members and staff also discussed bank lending and audit timing. Staff said the town cannot access the state bond bank without completed audits and that lenders have been hesitant to lend while audits remain outstanding. "Without the audit, we can't go out for bond for the truck," a committee member observed during the discussion. The group reviewed short-term gap financing options (local banks or a short-term loan) but emphasized that the most straightforward path—going to the bond bank—depends on audit completion.

The board scheduled the special town meeting to present specific warrant articles: a transfer from the severe-storm reserve to the fire-truck reserve, an appropriation of assigned municipal revenue-share funds, and a possible limited tax increase to cover any remaining gap. The chair and staff said specific warrant language and mill-rate calculations will be provided at the July 27 meeting so voters have numbers ahead of the special town meeting.

Next steps: staff will draft warrant articles and mill-rate scenarios for the July 27 meeting and continue pressing auditors for FY24/FY25 deliverables needed by lenders. The Aug. 10 special town meeting will be the venue for formal voter action on the proposed transfers and appropriations.