During a meeting of the Board of Finance this week, the board finalized its proposed 2025–2026 town budget following public comments. Several residents voiced concerns about the planned increases in compensation for town officials, previously reported by us.

While board members acknowledged these concerns and discussed the possibility of phasing in the salary increases over multiple years, the board ultimately opted not to revise the proposed adjustments.

Instead, the board adjusted tax collection rate assumption from 98% to 99% and reduced some expenses such as health insurance and library maintenance. These adjustments brought the final proposed budget to $31,469,588, with a projected mill rate of 36.28—an increase of 1.92 mills over the current rate.

With those changes approved unanimously, the Board of Finance voted to bring the budget to a Town Meeting on April 30. It is then likely to proceed to a town-wide budget referendum scheduled for May 14.