Mexico selectmen vote to approve Fire Department, Public Works budget proposals

MEXICO — The Board of Selectmen voted during Tuesday evening’s budget meeting to approve budget proposals for the town’s fire department and public works department.

Town Manager John Madigan said Wednesday that the selectmen approved a $268,583 budget proposal for the town’s fire department, which was “a little higher than last year.”

The fire department budget for the 2013-2014 fiscal year was $264,787. That amount was initially rejected by voters during the annual town meeting in June 2013. The selectmen later pared $500 from the rejected budget proposal, which was approved by voters during a subsequent referendum vote in July.

Other items that the selectmen approved for the 2014-2015 fiscal year included $46K for streetlights, $120K for the road maintenance and reconstruction reserve account and $25,750 for the highway garage.

Madigan added that the selectmen also approved $186,851.41 for the town’s summer roads account and $374,846 for the winter roads account.

The joint meeting between the selectmen and the Budget Committee started off shakily after Budget Committee members Albert Aniel, Betty Barrett and Marjorie Richards walked out of the meeting following a disagreement over how the town’s tax cap ordinance would be implemented, leaving three Budget Committee members remaining at the meeting.

Madigan said that the Budget Committee did not have a quorum after Aniel, Barrett and Richards left and therefore could not provide their recommendations for the budget proposals at the joint meeting.

Madigan added that the town is not required to have a budget committee, and that if a quorum is not reached for future budget meetings, the budget will be placed before voters with only the recommendations made by selectmen.

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