Annual budget meeting quiet

>> Residents didn’t comment on or discuss the proposed town budget during Monday night’s hearing, according to Town Manager Robert Geiger.

Approximately 60 people attended the meeting, Geiger said, but did not respond when asked for input on the proposal.

“It was a very short meeting,” said Geiger. “I was the only one who spoke, other than the moderator.”

Geiger presented the proposed $33.4 million budget to those in attendance.

The proposal includes a $1.4 million allocation for road repair in the community, which will be paid for, in part, by approximately $635,000 drawn from the town

fund balance.

A survey of the town roads from Lenard Engineering, which was previously presented to the Board of Selectmen, said an annual investment of $2 million over the next 10 years would “gradually improve the average condition of asphalt roads from the bottom to the top of the ‘fair’ range and cut the backlog value to $20 million at the end of the 10year period.”

The general fund balance stood at $6.17 million at the end of the 2015-16 fiscal year, according to the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report posted on the town website, or 18.7 percent of expenditures.

The tax rate would stay level under the proposal, Geiger has said previously.

The minimum amount of funding for the school district allowable under state law, known as the minimum budget requirement, of $19.96 million is included in the financial plan, along with $330,000 in a “Town Support for Education” line item.

While the Gilbert School and the Winchester schools continue to negotiate over a new contract, Geiger he believes the amount of funding included in the budget would not need to change as a result of those talks.

The town-wide referendum on the budget, Geiger said, has been scheduled for Saturday, May 27.