Budget Committee Meeting, October 5, 2023

Review of town spending year to date. Several large discrepancies from budget.

The committee discussed the turnout of the special election to appropriate state-provided funds to the school’s 2023 operating budget. It did not discuss the discrepancy between the committee’s recommendation to reject the warrant article and the overwhelming vote at the meeting to accept the warrant article. 

The focus of the meeting was to review the town’s spending relative to budget for the first three quarters of the year. The Town Administrator pointed out that several budget lines were substantially over budget and that the town would need to be cautious in its fourth quarter spending to keep the town within its total budget allocation - $4.8 million. 

Postage and Mailing

The committee discussed how to get better taxpayer uptake of online tax bill notification, as this would save the town postage and mailing expenses. Tax bills can be paid online via ACH check for $0.95 per payment. Credit cards may also be used, but the fee is 2.95% on top of the tax bill. 

Attorney Fees

The town is over budget on attorney fees. The Town Administrator said this came from the cost of the Fire Department investigation and subsequent ongoing litigation, and due to a legal issue involving discrepancies between where some roads in town are physically located relative to where the documentation says they are. 

Tom Butkiewicz asked the Town Administrator if the town had any recourse to suing Municiple Resources Inc. for bad advice from their employee that has caused the town to be sued. The Town Administrator said no. 

Insurance

Health insurance costs will increase 15% next year. Nearly 10% of the town’s budget goes to health insurance. 

Advertising

The committee discussed the high cost to the town associated with a legal mandate to publish various kinds of notices in newspapers, with each notice costing at least $1k. Tom Butkiewicz estimated that the publication the town advertises in, the Union Leader, has about 165 subscribers in Nottingham. 

[The Nottingham Blog has 405 subscribers, the vast majority of which are in Nottingham. Many non-subscribers read the Nottingham Blog on Facebook. As a service to the town, I’m willing to place the town’s notices here, for free. RSAs that mention placing notices typically just say “a newspaper of general circulation in the relevant municipality” (e.g., RSA 31:95-b. Some states have special definitions for what constitutes such a newspaper, but I wasn’t able to find one for NH). It might also be a good idea for our state representatives to introduce legislation to change the state laws about “newspaper of general circulation” to a more modern and cost-effective method, such as putting notices on a state-run website.]

Heat and Electricity

Tom Butkiewicz recalled that last year the Interim Town Administrator had called for huge budget increases for heat and electricity, which the Budget Committee refused to accept. So far it looks like the committee correctly figured these costs, except that the Fire Department is 20% over for heat and 5 times over for electricity. Brent Tweed, who is a member of the Fire Department, suggested that this may be because the station is being staffed 24/7 now. The Town Administrator suggested the expense may be associated with the furnace failing over the winter. 

Maintenance

Michael Kelly noted that the maintenance line was $0. The Town Administrator said that a warrant article allocated $40k for this, but the town was waiting for the Facilities Committee to submit their final report before taking action, which happened on September 18. The Board of Selectmen will be reviewing this report on October 30. 

Fire Department Wages

The committee discussed the large overages in Fire Department overtime pay. The Town Administrator explained that this was because the full-time firefighters were on two 24-hour shifts per week. The town pays overtime for any hours over 45. So, the firefighters get 3 hours of overtime per week. She said that the town is working on a policy change to address this, so that overtime is not triggered until an employee works more than 48 hours per week. [N.b., police and firefighters are governed under special statutes for overtime pay.]

In response to a question about whether the Fire Department was fully staffed, the Town Administrator said only one position was open, due to Lieutenant Kustra leaving the department. [N.b., unless this is new, it contradicts what was said in the Board of Selectmen meeting three days prior, that Lieutenant Kustra was still with the department.]

Tom Butkiewicz asked, accounting for these, why the department then had so much overtime? He also noted that last year he “couldn’t believe how low the Chief’s salary was. And I said, ‘keep this guy happy because he’s working for peanuts.’ We all know where that’s gone.” The Town Administrator said that Matt Curry was now in the Chief’s position and has assumed the salary. Tom Butkiewicz asked how the Interim Fire Chief was paid. The Town Administrator said he received his regular pay ($35/hr) as Building Inspector while he was in the interim position. These wages are in the part-time salary line. In the meantime the town had another person come in to sub as the Building Inspector. 

Watch the video: