Town of Orange, New Hampshire
Joint meeting with the Budget Committee and Select Board
to draft the 2016 municipal budget
February 2, 2016
Select Board Present: Dorothy Heinrichs, Chair; Robert Ells, Lyell ‘Skip’ Smith (Budget Committee ex-officio), and Sandi Pierson (clerical)
Budget Committee members present: Dave Stacy, Chair and Robert Proulx, Clerk
Budget Committee member absent: Sophie Seace
Others present: Sharon Proulx and Judith Lindahl.
Meeting opened at 7:00 PM.
The Select Board and Budget Committee discussed the two 2016 budget line items table at the January 26, 2016: salaries and legal.
Salary: Given that it is expected that the salary increase recommendations are going to be revisited on the next warrant, and no raises will be forthcoming in 2016, after discussion and reviewing the 2015 data, the Budget Committee and Select Board unanimously approved to level fund the salary line item at $23,500.
Legal: Dorothy shared correspondence from Bernie Waugh’s office that since the town has used only $775.54 from the 2015-2016 retainer of $6000, no retainer fee will be due until March 30, 2017. To cover the recent payment to Upton and Hatfield for wind energy ordinance counsel and for the town’s share of the ongoing Fairpoint litigation, the Budget Committee and Select Board unanimously approved to fund the legal line item at $4,400.
Warrant: The Select Board and Budget Committee reviewed the working draft of the 2016 warrant.
They reviewed correspondence from Matt Angell on the effect to the town because of the 3% discount. Matt wrote that “The Town does not appropriate and estimate of the discounts provided. As a result, the Town does not generate enough revenue to offset actual expenditures, thus resulting in declining financial position. Although the Town offers a discount on the total tax bill, the school district and the county do not offer similar discounts. As a result, the entire discount is applied to the Town’s share of taxes.”
Bob Proulx stated that this annual 3% discount of taxes adds to the overall deficit of the town which helped to result in a negative balance of the unassigned fund balance. It was discussed whether or not the 3% discount article should be included on the warrant. After discussion, both the Select Board and Budget Committee agreed that the 3% discount warrant article should not be included on the warrant, and to explain this joint concurrence in the town report. The Select Board will continue the discussion at their February 8 meeting.
Answering a question from Dorothy, Bob Proulx felt a warrant article was not necessary to appropriate money toward the unassigned fund balance given the Board is considering eliminating the 3% discount article and that Matt’s work revealed there is not a $38,000 deficit as first thought.
It was unclear if the route for contracting the auditing needs of the town will be a warrant article to change the positions from elected to appointed or an article to eliminate the positions so the duties can be contracted. Dorothy will follow up with Bernie.
The Board will finalize the warrant on at the February 8 meeting and have the final draft prepared for the Budget Committee public hearing on February 10.
Encumbered funds: Bob Proulx requested that two outstanding payments that will be made with 2015 encumbered funds (Supervisor supplies and Matt Angell’s contract) be reflected in the 2015 financial entries and not 2016. Even though they are 2016 vouchers, they are payments from 2015 which means they are not part of the 2016 line item appropriations.
Other:
- Dave said he figures the school portion of taxes for the next few years will increase by $1.63 per $1000 of valuation.
- Regarding the earlier discussion with the road agent about the repaving of roads, Dave suggested the Board monitor paving prices since they may be affected by the current low cost of oil.
- Dorothy asked Sandi to contact Tessa and see if she can attend the February 8 Select Board meeting so she can walk them through Matt Angell’s recent audit report. She directed Sandi to make copies of Matt’s report and the MS-5 for the Budget Committee and audited officers.
Meeting adjourned 7:38 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Sandi Pierson
_______________________ _____________________ ______________________
Dorothy Behlen Heinrichs Robert Ells Lyell Smith