HEBRON — An August public hearing to give residents a chance to voice their concerns about a $15,000 reduction in revenue sharing was scheduled by the Board of Selectmen this week.
The hearing is set for 7 p.m. Aug. 12 at the town office.
At town meeting in March, voters approved a $694,137 municipal budget, down approximately $26,000 from the recommended $721,200 spending plan.
Selectman Dan Eichorn said at the Monday meeting that this year the town was short in its budget by about $15,000 due to a $6.3 billion biennial budget bill passed by the Legislature late last month.
Eichorn said the town may have already covered the shortfall by only resurfacing Bryant Road with new pavement, instead of restoring it completely.
“It saved us an enormous amount of money,” Selectman Jim Reid explained.
In January, selectmen agreed to postpone reconstruction of a bridge on Station Road and other paving projects until 2014, in response to the revenue loss.
“We’ve come close to also covering the increase in the school budget,” Eichorn said, “not to mention, (voters) at town meeting cut a bunch out of winter roads.”
At the town meeting, voters trimmed $15,000 off the requested winter road maintenance budget of $145,000. Eichorn said the town may hold a special town meeting to make adjustments to the budget if voters think it’s necessary.
Rather than incur the expense to the town by having a special town meeting, Eichorn said the town would hold a public hearing for residents to express their concerns about the budget.
He said if the town does not hold a special town meeting and no money articles are changed, any leftover money the town does not appropriate will go into the general fund.
“We’d like people to have the opportunity to come in and tell us that we’re wrong and that they want a special town meeting so they can cut more (from the budget),” Eichorn said.
In other news, the board:
* Agreed to purchase a new seat for the town’s tractor for the highway crew.
* Reported that it has received 12 applications for the town’s deputy clerk position.
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