Moretown will bring a $1.9 million budget to voters on Town Meeting Day in March. The 2025-26 budget is up 12.9% from this year, a roughly $212,000 increase.
Spending for the town’s volunteer fire department is up 53%, or about $41,000, due to payments on a tanker truck the town purchased last year, as well as interest on the vehicle.
Spending for the town’s highway crew is up 10.6%, just over $35,000, including a $24,000 increase in highway crew pay, $4,600 for health insurance and $5,600 in other benefits.
Spending for town vehicles and highway equipment is up 10%, or $11,000, and highway supplies are up 4.4% or $9,000, due to the increased cost of gravel, salt, and chloride.
HIGHWAY WORK
Spending to pay off debt for highway equipment is up 62%, or $117,000 – with most of that allocated to pay off the purchase and interest on a truck, as well as interest for a grader purchased in 2023.
Overall, though, spending on the town’s highway department is down 5% this year, or $37,000. That decrease is due, in part, to a reduction of $19,000 for highway work that the town spent this year for work on Village Hill and town sidewalks.
Spending for the select board includes a roughly $34,000 increase to retain consulting services through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Overall, however, select board spending is up 6% from this year, or a $6,000 increase.
HEALTH INSURANCE COSTS
Spending for the town clerk position is up 11.8% or $12,000 due to a $7,500 salary increase and $1,700 increase in health insurance costs.
Auditing and bookkeeping services are up over 103%, or $13,500. Memberships are also up 29.5%, or $13,300 – with most of that due to the increased membership costs for ambulance services in the Mad River Valley, Waterbury, and Montpelier.
A few smaller increases in next year’s budget include $6,000 for custodial services and $3,700 for maintenance services at the Town Hall.
General town expenses are down 12.6%, or about $20,700 – an amount allocated this year for work on stormwater projects and a multi-use recreational path being developed by towns in The Valley.
Expenses for the Moretown Planning Commission are down by $7,000 – an amount the town allocated to paying consultants this year.
