WHATELY — Despite increasing school costs of more than $100,000, residents will be happy to know the town’s overall budget this year has decreased — and so has its debt.
Tuesday, April 25, residents will vote on a $4,890,939 budget at annual town meeting in the Elementary School, down from the $4,903,312 budget approved last year.
“It’s lower than last year by $12,373,” said Town Administrator Brian Domina recently, noting, “education costs were up $103,000 between the three schools,” Frontier Regional School, Whately Elementary School and Franklin County Technical School. Retirement costs also went up by $13,500.
Despite those increases, Domina said, “debt servicing is down, we made the final payouts for a highway dump truck, and this building is paid for.”
This past year, the town paid off $92,342 of debt, leaving a remaining balance of $135,283 moving into the coming year’s budget cycle, which starts July 1.
The overall budget also decreased at least in part because of a $55,426 drop in employee health insurance costs — from less employees — and a substantial decrease in South County EMS’s budget.
South County EMS projects to spend $516,057, down 15 percent from last year’s budget of $607,225, said South County EMS Director Zach Smith. Of the overall budget, Whately pays for 16.76 percent, or $86,502.
Overall, the town’s operational expenses are down $23,232.
Pointing out a few instances of monetary increases, Domina said town officials have worked toward consolidating budget items to streamline town finances.
“Part of this is trying to straighten out the budget — a lot of it is consolidating, trying to make the budget more efficient,” he said.