Henniker slashes budget at annual meeting

More than 460 residents crowded the Henniker Community School cafeteria at Saturday’s annual town meeting with one goal in mind, slashing the tax rate. After nine grueling hours of discussion, from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m., they got what they came for. The tax rate was cut from a proposed $8.10 to $6.63 per thousand, an 18.1 percent cut that brings the tax rate down to 3 percent below the current $6.84.

The rate could dip even lower if the sale of town-owned lot 98, which was approved by the voters two to one, rises above the $200,000 minimum set by the petitioned warrant article. According to finance director Russ Roy, the assessed value of lot 98 is $250,000, but Roy calculated the tax rate according to a $200,000 sale, because that is what was stated in Article 15.

The Patenaude family wishes to use lot 98 to construct a road to connect their gravel pit with their business, Henniker Crushed Stone.

Voters cut both the municipal and police department budgets as well as canceling the purchase of a new front end loader and a 4-wheel drive police cruiser, leaving the Highway Department, Solid Waste Disposal and Fire/Rescue unscathed, if only because they came later on the list, and by then so much had been cut the tax rate had already plummeted. However, late in the game, an increase of about $12,000 was given to the Tucker Free Library.

“The majority on the budget committee and the board of selectmen feel there is not another area to cut,” said chairman of the selectmen, Leon Parker, in his opening remarks.

Parker argued that cutting the loader for the highway department and the police cruiser would “make a serious difference in services” to the town and would increase maintenance costs on the older vehicles they would replace.

But selectman Tom Watman disagreed, encouraging the townspeople to make cuts in an impassioned speech about the economy. He pointed out that the Henniker unemployment rate has increased to 5.4 percent, and that 32 percent of the unemployed are beyond receiving benefits, that building permits decreased from 55 last year to 43 this year, that the town has 31 people receiving Meals on Wheels, that foreclosures in town have risen from three in 2007 to eleven, that 53 people in town are past due on their mortgages and 226 property owners are behind in tax payments. He also explained that real estate market values in town had dropped 4.71 percent in 2007, 5.7 percent in 2008 and 8.32 percent in 2009.

“I don’t want to see people thrown off the boat because we haven’t made the tough decisions,” Watman said.
Municipal, Highway, Fire and Police
Parker made an argument for putting $100,000 into the capital reserve fund for the Western Avenue Bridge, which has been closed for several years due to the state condemning it in need of repairs.

“Some holes are beginning to be so big you can put your head through them,” he explained.

Parker also explained that getting stimulus funds for the project is not possible to do without the bridge being “shovel ready,” and $200,000 had already been invested in engineering. But Eleanor Kjellman spoke up, pointing out there is already an alternate route that can stand some traffic for another year.

The article failed.

Dennis Hamel proposed an 11.4 percent reduction of the municipal budget to keep it flat with last year’s budget. Although others present pointed out that 11.4 percent was the total of all the warrant articles and not just the municipal budget, Hamel insisted and the vote was in his favor.

Caleb Dobbins warned that making deeper and deeper cuts may affect personnel. “You will have to cut people,” he explained.

“I think if the selectmen had cut the budget then you wouldn’t have had this turnout,” said Chris Mulcahey. “Many of us don’t make as much money as last year.”

Hamel’s amendment passed, bringing the municipal budget down $136,664, from $1,198,803 to $1,062,139, and the budget as amended passed. Last year’s budget had been $983,518.

Hamel also proposed cuts on the wastewater and water department, but gave in when he realized those entities did not impact the general taxes.

Police Chief Ryan Murdough warned that decreasing the department’s budget 11.4 percent would bring it below last year’s level.

Dana Myskowski then proposed to cut the police department budget down to $750,000.

“If you pass this cut you will lose officers,” Carl Hamel pointed out.

“If we cut everything by 11.4 percent, this town isn’t going to operate,” said Dobbins.

Chief Murdough then explained that his officers had agreed to do without any pay increases. This five percent pay increases would have amounted to $33,023. Cheryl Morse made her own amendment to cut the Police budget down that same amount. This amendment was passed, and the Police Department budget was passed, decreasing it accordingly to $1,048,495.

A slightly reduced budget for animal control was passed relatively easily, as did the Fire/Rescue budget. The proposed new ambulance passed, but the article was amended to take the most possible out of the capital reserve funds for it.

With the highway department budget about to be visited with another 11.4 percent cut proposal by Dennis Hamel, selectman Watman stood up and pronounced, “The battle is over. I hope the actions of this meeting will mean the board of selectmen will be more careful over the next 12 months.”

Hamel’s 11.4 percent amendment to decrease the highway department budget failed. Although the new loader had been nixed by an early vote, the rest of the highway budget remained intact.

Morse, a former selectman, asked that the selectmen consider evening out the cuts between departments that were hit earlier on in the meeting.

The solid waste request for $681,355, an increase of nearly $60,000, was cheerily passed when superintendent Bob Pennock explained that he’d been able to return $203,000 of last year’s $622,335 due to unexpended funds, revenues from recycled goods, and grants.

An argument made by chairman of the Tucker Free Library and Caleb Dobbins, the Budget Advisory Committee Chairman, won the library an increase in their budget.

Dobbins pointed out that the library often makes up for its own budget when the town under-runs it, taking money out of its trust funds. But when they see a surplus in a year they didn’t spend as much as expected the money goes back to the town’s general fund, not the library’s trust fund.

“The Budget Advisory Committee knew this and approved this,” said Dobbins of the requested increase of $12,396, which brought the library up to $190,804.

The only other warrant articles affecting taxes were the town-wide revaluation and the old swimming pool fund. The town wide reval asked for $25,000 to add to $100,000 already in a capital reserve to cover the costs of the contract. It passed and cost the town six cents on the tax rate. The swimming pool fund, which had over $15,000 in it and was created in 1983, was dissolved, subtracting four cents on the tax rate.

The roof of the Community Center will be repaired by $36,000 form the Proctor Family Trust Fund, which required a 2/3-majority vote to pass.