China selectmen set budget meeting for February 8; Make several committee appointments

by Mary Grow

China selectmen continued budget deliberations at their Feb. 1 meeting and scheduled a budget workshop for 5 p.m. (note earlier meeting time) Monday, Feb. 8, for more discussion.

The Feb. 1 meeting was by Zoom, with Selectman Irene Belanger unable to participate and Selectman Janet Preston having trouble with her computer. The Feb. 8 meeting will be live in the portable classroom behind the town office, available for viewing on the China website.

Major unresolved issues are whether to change the way town employees’ salaries are adjusted annually – Board Chairman Ronald Breton would like to see a system of step increases started – and how large an increase to offer for the 2021-22 fiscal year that begins July 30.

For pay raises, Town Manager Becky Hapgood proposed 3 percent, Breton proposed 1.5 percent and Preston suggested 2 percent.

Breton said in his personal opinion, with so many jobs lost, “This is not a good climate to give big pay raises.”

Hapgood offered to calculate total costs of each of the proposed increases to help selectmen make a decision at the Feb. 8 meeting.

Selectmen agreed to leave the budget line called Community Support Organizations at Hapgood’s proposed $107,500. The category includes what used to be called stipends for members of China Rescue and China’s three volunteer fire departments; some of the lake protection activities; the two libraries; The Town Line newspaper; and preservation of town-owned historic buildings.

They reduced proposed expenditures for cemeteries from Hapgood’s recommended $40,000 to Selectman Wayne Chadwick’s recommended $34,000. Hapgood said the account covers mowing, headstone repairs, tree removal and maintenance of fences and signs. An additional $1,000 is for the annual placement of flags on veterans’ graves.

Also to be reduced, after Hapgood calculates an appropriate amount, is the contingency fund, for which the manager proposed $162,000. The fund has given selectmen $55,000 annually for several years to cover unanticipated expenditures. This year, at selectmen’s request, Hapgood moved into it money to cover unplanned increases in insurance premiums, for example if an employee with single health insurance coverage leaves and is replaced by someone eligible for family coverage.

Contingency funds, when needed, come from China’s undesignated fund balance (formerly called surplus), so the amount voters approve will not affect 2021-22 taxes.

Another item postponed was continued membership in FirstPark, the Oakland-based business park in which China and other municipalities invested years ago. So far, the town’s annual assessment has been higher than its share of park income. Hapgood thinks the situation might reverse in 2021-22; she expects an assessment figure by the beginning of March.

In addition to the budget discussion, selectmen made several appointments.

• Jennifer Chamberlain and Chadwick were appointed to the Road Committee, Chadwick in a non-voting advisory role.
• Sarah Batteese, Harold Charles, Ronald Morrell, Stephen Nichols and William Rancourt were appointed to the Emergency Preparedness Committee, which is scheduled to meet at 1 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 4.
• Ashley Farrington was appointed to the Transfer Station Committee, which is scheduled to meet at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 9.

The selectmen’s meeting was preceded by an assessors’ meeting – the selectmen are also the Board of Assessors – at which resident Ed Fredrikson and Assessor William Van Tuinen argued over Van Tuinen’s assessment of Fredrikson’s business equipment, which is subject to personal property tax. Selectmen postponed a decision.