LIVERMORE FALLS — The Selectboard on Wednesday finalized a proposed $2.56 million budget for 2019-20, an increase of $60,064 from current spending.
The board also approved a 43-article warrant for the annual town meeting referendum.
A public hearing on the proposed budget and warrant is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on April 22 at the Town Office.
The spending plan and warrant will then go before voters June 11. The polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., also at the Town Office, which will be closed that day except for voting.
The Budget Committee had recommended a proposed budget totaling $2.6 million.
The committee recommended increasing town donations from the selectmen’s cap of $5,000 to $15,000 to fund additional agencies or programs. The additional $10,000 would have come from the town’s undesignated fund, according to Budget Committee Chairman Jeff Roy.
Selectboard Chairwoman Heather Bronish said she did not want to reopen the budget. She said if the spending proposal were defeated at the town meeting, another recommendation could be considered.
A citizens’ petition could also be considered by the Selectboard to get it on a ballot, Roy said.
Bronish said the board used $100,000 from the undesignated fund in each of the past two years to offset the tax commitment.
Budget Committee members also mentioned how an emergency meeting called late in the day March 13 did not allow the panel to present all of its recommendations. The Sun Journal addressed proper meeting notification with Town Manager Stephen Gould the next day.
Gould said Wednesday he thought he had to have the budget and warrant done quickly, but later learned he had more time to meet the referendum timeline.
Gould said it was his fault if there were missteps in the process. This is the first year Gould has been through the process of putting together a budget and following the timeline to hold a referendum. He was out on medical leave from heart surgeries last year when the budget process was conducted.
dperry@sunmediagroup.net
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