Advisory Board offers final budget

Advisory Board offers final budget

After finalizing their recommendations Wednesday night, the Advisory Board revealed a $6,249,241 budget to be presented at town meeting – a $538,271 reduction from last year’s operations.

This budget contains drastic cuts to almost all departments in order to cover the town’s $505,000 structural deficit and will result in the elimination of several town employees.

• Salary funding for the Highway Department will be reduced to $279,350 — a $16,639 cut from last year which could result in the loss of hours or manpower for Superintendent Francis “Bud” Chase’s crew.

• The Cemetery Department will remain relatively intact with $66,300 allotted to cover two full-time employees for Superintendent Alan Mayo. Unfortunately, this number will not cover summer help for Mr. Mayo and the department’s administrative assistant position will be eliminated.


• The Police Department’s salaries will be cut by over $64,000 and the Fire Department will see their wages reduced by $20,000 while their entire $6,000 maintenance and equipment update account is done away with.

• The Board of Health will see its budget slashed almost in half, with the town’s Health Agent working only on a per diem basis and office salaries reduced by $10,000.

• The Town Clerk’s Assistant, Conservation Commission assistant, and Building Inspector’s assistant will all be laid off and the town’s $26,500 street light expense account will be carved from the budget.

• The town’s Recreation Commission will also be eliminated with no funding for salaries or expenses.

While the budget contains several serious cuts, it also features a few increases – with the future Town Accountant receiving an $11,000 raise in salary to $41,760 and the town’s Treasurer/Collector pulling in $55,000.

The Board of Selectmen have made it clear in previous meetings that adequate funding of the financial management team was necessary to keep the books in order and the town out of financial trouble.

Voters will have an opportunity to adopt changes to the Fiscal Year 2014 budget enacted last week to avoid state intervention during the Special Town Meeting to be held within this year’s Annual Town Meeting.