Town department heads presented their budget proposals to Peterborough’s Select Board and Budget Committee in the Town Hall on Tuesday, Feb. 10.
Planning & Building
The Planning & Building Department will see a 0.64% increase in its total budget for the year, from $327,808 to $329,909. While the Administration category will grow by 1.91%, the Operations category will decrease by 6.52%.
The Planning & Building Administration category will increase from $278,608 to $283,917. The largest increase is in the salary line item, which is proposed to increase from $225,702 to $231,311.
Planning & Building Director Danica Miller said she expects a $3,208 decrease in the Operations category from last year’s $49,200. The major line items contributing to the decrease are telephone, dues and publications and printing costs. There is a reduction from $3,000 to $1,902 for telephones, from $10,500 to $9,200 for dues and publications, and from $3,000 to $2,500 for printing.
Peterborough Town Library
Library Director Corinne Chronopoulos discussed the proposed budget as well as plans for new library programs.
Chronopoulos proposed a flat appropriation with an expense increase of $12,126 offset by the same amount in revenue. The previous year’s budget was set at $765,043. This year’s 1.59% increase brings the budget proposal to $777,169.
Chronopoulos emphasized the library’s Board of Trustees commitment to maintaining a level budget. “The trustees committed more funding to keep the budget flat,” she said, adding that the library made careful cuts to maintain salaries and to accommodate increases in water and utility bills.
Chronopoulos also said the library’s endowment continues to grow. “The 1833 Society continues to build the library endowment. The 1833 Fund has $5,020.21 and is restricted to capital improvements to the library campus.”
According to Chronopoulos, the library’s cost per capita in 2025 was $110. She said Peterborough taxpayers can gain a positive return on their investment in the library through such things as checking out five or more items rather than purchasing books, or attending an entertaining family program instead of spending money on a night out.
Chronopoulos also mentioned that the library is looking to start “a library of things.” The idea behind the program is to provide goods to patrons who don’t want to buy and store certain items, such as tools. “We’ve received a generous grant from the Chris Mond Fund and are reaching out to other partners for donations to make it an entirely grant-funded program,” she said.
Finance Office
Finance Director Lilli Gilligan proposed a budget increase for her office of $28,247 from the previous year’s $4.01 million. The 0.7% increase brings the proposal to $4.04 million.
The greatest changes expected in the budget are in the General Government and Finance Operations categories. General Government is proposed to increase by $136,307, or by 9.3%, growing from $1.465 million to $1.601 million. Finance Operations are expected to rise from $375,486 to $402,877, an increase of $27,391 or 7.29%.
All figures presented are subject to change before the May Town Meeting. The Peterborough Select Board and Budget Committee will host a public hearing in Town Hall Tuesday, Feb. 17 at 5 p.m.