DURHAM — A discussion between the Select Board members and the chairman of the budget committee over the structure of the budget turned heated at times during the Select Board meeting Tuesday night.
The Select Board and the Budget Committee added undesignated funds differently to each of their budget proposals.
In a break from previous years, the Select Board decided to create a separate article for undesignated funds. However, Budget Committee Chairman Milton Simon said his committee was unaware of the change and made their budget recommendation as they have in past years, distributing undesignated funds among budget articles.
In order to bring it to the Town Meeting for a vote, it was necessary to pick one method.
Select Board Chairman Kevin Nadeau said it would be easier to track the use of undesignated funds year to year if it were kept as a separate article. Simon said he had the opposite view and felt it was more transparent to distribute undesignated funds in the budget so residents could see how the money would be used.
Ultimately, the Select Board chose to follow the Budget Committee’s lead; it would have been more difficult for the budget committee to pull out the undesignated funds from each of the articles.
“There’s a reason we did it the way we did,” Select Board Vice Chairman Rob Pontau said. “Who cares if it’s $30,000 in one item and $24,000 in another, and $2,000 in another? It’s just a waste of time.”
“Just to be courteous, six members of the budget committee out of eight disagree with your opinion,” Simon said. “I know the Select Board knows all, but I just want you to know that we are also…”
The rest of Simon’s comment was drowned out by competing voices.
“That keeps going on with your committee this year with ‘we know all’ or being some type of nefarious over this budget, that for some reason the Select Board wants to increase taxes for everybody,” Select Board member Richard George said. “Why is all this nonsense this year? Why do you think I want to pay more taxes?”
A short argument ensued over who had made the accusation against the Select Board, if at all.
Simon, a member of the Budget Committee for 23 years, said he was confused by the tension at the Select Board meeting and felt “very uncomfortable in that room.”
“I felt like they were being pretty rude to me,” he said Wednesday. “The budget committee did what it was supposed to do.”
Without guidance from the Select Board, the committee added undesignated funds to the budget the same way it has in the past, he said.
Undesignated funds is money that has not yet been allocated to a specific purpose.
BUDGET PROPOSALS
The Select Board will vote to approve the budget warrant for the April 2 Town Meeting at their next meeting on March 18.
The Select Board’s proposal of $1,660,671 is just over $10,000 greater than the Budget Committee’s $1,650,006 proposal. The budget proposals could raise local taxes by 1.1% to 1.2%, however these estimates are subject to change.
This is a “status quo” budget, Nadeau said, meaning there are no major new initiatives. The budget increase is primarily due to inflation and the rising costs of goods, energy and wages, he said.
The greatest difference between the two proposals is found in the budgets for public works and staff raises. The Select Board budgeted more than double the Budget Committee’s $11,510 for the raise pool, but $12,000 less than the Budget Committee’s $1,272,000 for public works.
In order of priority, the budget will set aside funds to purchase breathing apparatuses for the fire department, for public works to use on stream crossings, and to purchase a plow truck.
The town will additionally have a public hearing on changes to its land use ordinance at 6:30 p.m. at the Eureka Center on March 15.
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