China select board looks at half a dozen proposals for 2021-22 town budget

by Mary Grow

The main business at the Jan. 31 China Select Board meeting was discussion of the first half-dozen accounts in the proposed 2022-23 town budget.

The main decision made was on salary increases for town employees. In a series of split votes, with board Chairman Ronald Breton and members Blane Casey and Wayne Chadwick on one side and Jeanne Marquis and Janet Preston on the other, board members:

• Rejected Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood’s proposed six percent increase;
• Rejected Preston’s suggested four and a half percent increase; and
• Approved a three percent increase for 2022-23.

The men’s main arguments were focused on saving taxpayers’ money. The women’s emphasized the national cost of living increase, six percent or more. No one criticized town employees.

There was disagreement about how many people are covered. The number is about 15, all the full-time employees except Hapgood, whose salary is negotiated separately, but not some part-time employees, like the animal control officer and the planning board’s secretary.

Hapgood’s draft budget included the six percent increases. Select board members therefore postponed recommendations on the administration and assessing parts of the 2022-23 budget, which include salaries, until she recalculates.

They unanimously approved Hapgood’s recommendations on amounts for town boards and committees, association dues and legal expenses for 2022-23.

The budget discussion at the Feb. 14 select board meeting is slated to begin with the volunteer fire departments’ requests.

In other business Jan. 31, select board members spent a quarter-hour arguing over Preston’s proposal to review employee health insurance plans every other year, instead of annually, unless premiums rise more than three percent in a year.

Preston and Marquis supported the proposal, which they said would lessen stress on employees. Breton thought all budget elements should be reviewed annually. Chadwick saw health insurance as a possible place to cut costs if town officials anticipated a financial bind.

No action was taken.

Board members unanimously appointed Paul Lucas a member of the Transfer Station Committee. That committee’s next meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 8, in the portable building behind the town office.

Hapgood said information on PFAS contamination is now on the town website. It is under a new tab at the top of the left-hand column, labeled “PFAS Information.”

The manager commended the town’s plow truck drivers for their long hours during the weekend blizzard. Their work started around 8 a.m. Saturday, she said, and some drove most of the time until mid-afternoon Sunday. After the roads were clear, they still had town properties to finish cleaning up.

The next regular China select board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 14.