Town manager presents unbalanced 2027 draft; recommends adding public-safety and economic-development positions

Town staff presented an initial, unbalanced draft of the 2027 general fund and warned trustees the town faces tight finances.

Heather told the board this was the first general-fund operating budget in 18 years that she had delivered to trustees that was not balanced and described a "worst case" scenario meant to show how tight next year could be. She said staff estimated health benefits at "slightly over $400,000 a year," and proposed adding two positions: one in public safety to address an increase in calls and an economic-development director to support local businesses and pursue grants.

Heather said she had intentionally estimated revenue conservatively and expenditures conservatively to give trustees time to consider priorities; she noted healthy reserves but said hard decisions would be required. Trustees asked for a breakout of reserves, and requested that Heather bring a focused economic-development explanation to the workshop in two weeks so the board can better assess the $140,000 line-item driving much of the projected deficit.

Staff said the municipal budget calendar calls for publishing an official first draft in October and that the board would have a workshop to review priorities before formal adoption.