Peterborough is holding another virtual Town Meeting this year, and Select Board members signed off on a nearly flat budget at the town’s budget hearing Tuesday night.
The town’s proposed net budget for 2021 is $6,877,443, which is a 0.9 percent increase from last year’s $6,818,905. Voters will be asked to approve a gross budget of $15,817,741 this year, Town Administrator Nicole MacStay said, a number that does not account for all the revenues the town receives. Last year, voters approved a gross budget of $17,057,941.
“Department directors did an amazing job bringing forward what is essentially a flat budget this year,” MacStay said, describing it as “an incredibly responsible budget.”
The Select Board opted for a virtual Town Meeting for a second year in a row due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and procedures are just slightly different this year. “[They] didn’t think they had power to make any amendments last year,” MacStay said. House Bill 1129 clarified that ability later in 2020, she said. This means that residents can submit requests for amendments, along with questions and comments on the budget, any time leading up to what is traditionally a deliberative session on April 6, MacStay said.
This year, residents may attend a live virtual meeting on March 30, which will be followed a week later by the April 6 meeting, where the Select Board will address all questions and comments, and make amendments to the warrant if they feel it’s necessary, MacStay said. Residents may vote on the warrant as well as local elections on Tuesday, May 11.
All warrant articles with a price attached were unanimously approved by the Select Board and Budget Committee, MacStay said, although there’s still time for residents to submit petition articles, and the warrant can’t be finalized until after March 9.
Currently, Article 3 asks voters to spend $163,100 on the following capital reserve and expendable trust funds: $15,000 to GIS, $18,100 to Police Department Fleet Management, $40,000 to Fire Department Apparatus and Equipment, $10,000 to Winter Operations, and $80,000 to Fleet Management.
Article 4 asks voters to transfer $3,000 in burial lot sales to the Cemetery expendable trust fund.
Article 5 asks voters to spend $400,000 to add to the Roadway System Upgrades capital reserve fund.
Article 6 asks voters to allocate $400,000 of the unassigned fund balance to the Ambulance Revolving Fund.
Article 7 asks voters to spend $262,288 to connect all remaining residences in town to broadband internet via Consolidated Communications. The town will recover the cost over time through an additional service charge paid by subscribers.