The Moretown Select Board has completed their 2016-2017 budget. At $1,072,662, it is up $9,825 from last year’s budget of $1,062,837.
The town will pay back the last portion of a $40,000 loan it borrowed in 2015 to construct the new town office building and that payment is $8,200. Electricity and heating fuel required for the new building is estimated to cost an additional $1,600.
Some categories on the budget contain equal increases and decreases and are balanced out in the end. For example, town garage expenses include a landscaping cost that is up $2,000, but costs for heating fuel are down $2,000.
Somewhat similarly, many highway related costs are up — highway crew pay has increased by $5,450, employee health insurance has increased by $4,505, equipment repair has increased by $21,200 — while other costs are down. Total work has decreased by $4,000 and costs of gas, diesel and oil have decreased $13,500. Total highway expenses have increased $6,700.
Other increases include Town Meeting and election expenses ($2,780), membership fees for a solid waste collaborative effort called the Mad River Resource Management Alliance ($4,948) and a new membership fee for Good Samaritan Haven, an organization that provides emergency services such as a 30-bed shelter for homeless residents in central Vermont ($500).
Decreases in expenses are found with cemetery maintenance and administrative costs ($700), marriage and dog license costs ($1,450) and fire department costs ($2,660).
