WILTON — The Select Board and Finance Committee met on Tuesday, March 30, to review the town’s proposed $3.8 million budget for 2021-2022, an increase of $207,923 from last year. The town expects to raise $1.2 million in revenues over the fiscal year.

The proposed budget articles with increases from the previous year are as follows:

The General Government and Administration budget is set at $308,375, a $13,975 increase to account for employee compensation, health insurance taxes and to prepare for a new server at the town office.

“Our server is about eight years old, it is time to be looking at replacing it,” Town Manager Rhonda Irish said. “Right now we share our server, all of the information goes back and forth between the police station and the town office. It will be going to the cloud, I have talked to them about that and the price that I was given as a budgetary price was $8,000 for each server.”

The Town Office Building budget is $22,000, a $2,000 increase to invest more in the capital improvement account for building improvements.

The Insurance budget is $94,000 which is a $23,500 increase. The account had been set to $70,500 since 2012 and Irish said this is primarily due to workers compensation increasing by $50,000.

The Pension and Benefits Reserve is a proposed new account of $20,500 to prepare for paying out town employees when they leave their positions.

“When employees leave, we do have to pay out their vacation, we have to pay out any comp hours that they may have, we pay out some of their sick time,” Irish said, explaining that last year the town had to pay out two employees a total of $12,000 worth of benefits.

The Public Safety budget is $589,551, a $14,994 increase to go towards upgrading the police department’s body cameras, upgrading radios in vehicles and replacing cages that do not fit in the new cruisers.

The Fire Department budget is $195,338, a $3,800 increase to go towards employee compensation and the East Dixfield Fire Department which is requesting an additional $2,300 for its support this year.

The Public Safety Building is set to $45,104, a $10,300 increase primarily to cover a new server, estimated to cost $8,000, for the police department.

The North Star Ambulance Subsidy will slightly increase to $21,103 for the fiscal year.

The Public Works budget is $983,250, a $19,500 increase due to equipment purchases.

“A lot of the price of our equipment keeps going up and up and we haven’t really kept up with it the past few years,” Public Works Director John Masse said. “So I am trying to make a jump to get back to where we should be.”

The Capital Paving budget is $603,000, a $283,000 increase so the town can catch up on paving roads. The paving will be offset by about $55,000 from the state. Roads scheduled to be improved include Munson Road, Munson Road Extension, Adams, Thomas, Birch, Lothrop, Gilbert Street South, Sanford McCrillis, Farmer, Pratt, Morrison Hill and a portion of Blue Spruce Road.

The Recycling/Transfer Station budget is $277,250, a $250 increase.

The General Assistance budget is $6,000, a $1,000 increase to account for additional burials the town has been covering.

The Animal Control budget is set for $17,256, a $2,400 increase to cover miscellaneous veterinarian bills and to start paying the animal control officer mileage.

The Recreation Program budget is set for $92,359, a $2,171 increase to fund additional supplies, training and education.

The Parks and Facilities budget is $40,239, a $4,254 increase to pay for grounds equipment, park improvements and employee compensation.

The Capital Account is set for $100,000, a $50,000 increase to help finance the replacement of the Wilson Lake retaining wall. This would come from the Undesignated Fund Balance (UFB) and not affect tax payers.

The UFB will also support the Forester Mill Demolition Debt Service loan payment of $100,000, a $25,000 increase from last year’s payment.

Two budget accounts have proposed decreases.

The Street and Lights budget is $27,600, a $200 decrease thanks to the town investing in LED lights.

The Contingent and Legal budget is set for $17,000, a $2,000 decrease due to the town’s new law firm Jensen Baird Gardner & Henry charging a lower rate.

The Select Board and Finance Committee will vote on the proposed budget on Monday, April 12, at 6 p.m. The final vote on the town warrant by the Select Board will take place on Tuesday, May 4. Town elections will be held Tuesday, June 8, and the Town Meeting is scheduled for Monday, June 14.

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