In attendance:
Budget Committee Members – Laurie Colburn (Chair), Justin Dohrn (via ZOOM), Jen Richardson, Beth Downs (Select Board Rep), Kimberly Firth
Karen Hambleton, Town Administrator
Meeting called to order at 6:31 pm
New Business:
Elect Chair and Vice Chair positions
Motion: Beth Downs moved to nominate Jen Richardson as Chair of the Budget Committee.
Second: Kim Firth
Decision: 5-0 in favor
Motion: Beth Downs moved to nominate Kim Firth as Vice Chair.
Second: Jen Richardson
Decision: 5-0 in favor
Old Business:
Review Minutes of February 9, 2023
Motion: Beth Downs moved to approve the minutes from February 9th with the change to remove Justin Dohrn as having been in attendance.
Second: Laurie Colburn
Decision: 5-0 in favor
Vacant Positions on Committee:
Karen will talk to Erica about perhaps appointing someone from the list of write-ins. Dawn Gezelman was suggested as a possibility.
Review of Budget and Expenditures:
Consensus was that the overall expense, this early in the year, is in line with what is to be expected. Laurie asked if the Select Board or Town Administrator were aware of any budget concerns. The answer was that there are no concerns at this time. Karen shared the Fire Chief’s question about how he should expend the funds voted this year for his planned equipment purchases. She had advised him to code them to his operating budget, because they are truly operating expenses, even though they will be funded by the warrant article.
There was discussion about the CIP and 10% rule and how they impact the budget. The nuances of the operating budget and the warrant articles was discussed.
The Committee identified member partnerships with each department.
Jen Richardson – Library, Parks & Rec
Kim Firth – Transfer Station, Town Clerk
Laurie Colburn – Highway Dept
Justin Dohrn – Fire/Rescue Dept
Tim McKenna – Police Dept
Beth Downs – Select Board
The next meeting was determined to be on September 14th, with the expense reports to be sent at the send of the second quarter for the Committee to review.
Kim shared her ideas about how to create better transparency and provide more information with the budget. She also spoke to the desire to increase community engagement in town committees and boards. She suggested a questionnaire be created to gauge the budget questions/concerns/priorities of the community. Kim offered to create some questions; Karen offered to seek input from the Municipal Managers listserv to see if another town has done a survey like this.
Laurie suggested that the Committee might want to continue Doug Southard’s work on identifying and illustrating all the factors that play into the tax rate.
The Committee discussed other ways to communicate with the public and increase transparency in the budget process.
Motion: Laurie Colburn moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:31 pm.
Second: Beth Downs
Decision: 5-0 in favor
Submitted by Karen Hambleton