The Town Council set a final budget amount for the FY 25 budget warrant article heading into the Deliberative session during its Jan. 12 public hearing.
The town’s proposed budget, if approved, by voters would be $40,073,249, with an additional $5,786,347 for the Sewer Enterprise Fund budget, which is offset by revenue for a total of $45,859,596.
Excluding the Sewer Enterprise Fund, the proposed operating budget is about $2.5 million more than the FY 24 budget.
If voters approve the budget $23,653,283 will need to be raised by taxpayers, which will have an estimated tax impact of $3.696 per thousand.
Some of the biggest increases pointed to during the initial budget presentation includes a contract increase with Waste Management for $459,049, which is a 5% increase.
Another major increase is to health insurance premiums, which will cost about $1.4 million, along with other increases to insurances like dental, property insurance, and unemployment.
Other major increases include $280,925 for the NH Retirement System, $210,216 for operational contracts, and $978,187 for personnel costs as part of contracts with unions.
Town Manager, Mike Malaguti, during the original budget hearing in November, stated that one piece of good news with the budget is a savings of $733,466, for the reduction of debt services, due to a bond being paid off.
Finance Director, Justin Campo, noted that the final proposed budget is less than they originally thought back in November due to making adjustments for the number of open positions. He added that at the time they had 20 open positions and now have 13, while also calculating everyone’s final calculations for insurances.
“I based it on our current staffing levels,” Campo said.
It was also noted previously that the proposed budget is less than the Default budget.
“As in prior years there’s a difference in the town manager’s proposed operating budget and the default budget,” Malaguti said.
Resident, Ray Breslin, asked how much the total cost would be for taxpayers if all the warrant articles passed, headed into the meeting.
“You’re looking at a total of $27,042,033,” Campo said.
In total, the Town Council ultimately recommended $26,792,033, worth of warrant articles during the meeting. The projected tax rate is $4.189, if all those warrant articles are approved.