Dateline: Jan. 13, 2025

With snow falling on Saturday morning, about two inches hampered most residents from attending the first town budget hearing of the year. Held on Saturday January 11th at the now empty Allenstown Elementary School (AES), the purpose of the meeting was to present and discuss the $6,164,887 Town Budget, the $2,787,177 Sewer Dept. Budget, the $13,950,191 School Budget, and numerous town and school warrant articles.

The 9 a.m. meeting was held in the old AES multipurpose room, well know for its poor acoustics. Seventeen officials filled several tables on one side of the room. They represented SAU 53, the Select Board, the School Board, and the Budget Committee. About 30 residents barely filled the rows of folding chairs on the other side of the large room.

Town Budget First

Melaine Boisvert, Budget Committee, acted as the Moderator. Starting with the Town and Sewer Budgets, she offered residents the opportunity to ask any questions that concerned them.

In the budget worksheet, one resident stated that the 2024 approved budget was $5.5 million but the 2024 budget spent was only $5.0 million, implying that $500,000 was not spent. But the 2025 budget was $6.1 million which is $600,000 more than was spent in 2024. Road Agent Pelissier explained that for example, the Highway Dept. did not use up all its funding for sand and salt last winter but he had to plan on having enough funding for this coming year. Someone else mentioned that two vacancies at the Police Dept. last year reduced personnel expenses, but new hires are to replace them this year, adding back those personnel expenses.

Another resident asked for an explanation of the effect of a vote for the lower default town budget ($5,507,875). Town Administrator John Harrington said, "That would require a reexamination of all the town department budgets and a possible reduction in town services. For example, last summer the town negotiated a new contract with Casella's for trash disposal. The disposal budget was $287,968 spent last year, $470,476 proposed this year, but $377,235 in the default budget.

He further added, "The Town would have to examine whether or not it would be able to provide the same trash collection service without the funding to support the Casella contract provided within the Default Budget."

In response to questions, Jeff Backman, Superintendent of the Wastewater Treatment Facility, explained that "the costs of operating and maintaining the sewer system are paid by residents, businesses, and septage haulers that utilize sewer services."

While talking to PD Lieutenant Beth Tower during an intermission, she mentioned that it was too bad they didn't postpone the meeting due to the snow.

School Budget Next

The school budget was presented next - $13,950,191 proposed, $13,975,134 default. When a resident asked why the default budget was slightly higher than the proposed budget, School Board Member Keith Klawes explained, "We looked over every line item in the budget and tried to find expenses we could reduce to give the residents a lower budget to vote on." For comparison, last year's approved budget was $13,788,612.

During the review of School Board warrant articles, a residents asked why did Article 7 request $77,550 for another school bus. Principal Shannon Kruger offer these details.

"Our buses grew more crowded this year and while we can seat younger students three to a seat, it is not realistic when we add backpacks and snow gear. There are similar challenges with the older students who also have backpacks but also instruments and/or athletic gear. To make sure that everyone can sit comfortably and safely in their seats, the School Board approved additional bus services for the remainder of this year."

Principal Kruger also mentioned that, "The bus company is not yet able to provide an additional bus, so we have added second runs, which is challenging. The additional bus would alleviate the crowding and get students to/from school at the same time."

Articles 8 & 9 would authorize the School Board to sell the ARD and AES schools. This led to a lively debate about why the Select Board and the School Board had not yet come to an agreement on the transfer of AES to the town as approved in last year's warrant article.

Jody Moore, School Board Chair, admitted that "This was not the best solution but the School Board needed these articles to protect their interests in case the negotiations with the Select Board failed." Both boards did acknowledge that they were close to an agreement and have been working together.

Jody Moore later made a final suggestion to hold the next meeting at the new Community School which has a large gym, better acoustics, and plenty of parking.

With no other business to conduct the meeting was adjourned just before 11:00 a.m. The next public meeting would be the Deliberative Session on February 1st at the new Community School on River Rd.

What You Can Do

Plan on attending the Deliberative Session on February 1st.