DIXFIELD — The Board of Selectmen on Monday unanimously voted to approve an $89,643 budget proposal for the Fire Department for 2016-17.

The vote followed a joint meeting with the Finance Committee.

Fire Chief Scott Dennett said the proposal is “right in line with the budget from last year.” He said he’s anticipating “having leftover money in this year’s budget to turn over.”

“The fuel accounts and the heating oil accounts were much lower than anticipated, due to the price of gas and oil this year,” Dennett said. “I’m not sure what’s going to happen over the next few months, but I’m anticipating to see some savings.”

Selectman Mac Gill asked Dennett how many firefighters the Dixfield Fire Company has.

“We’re at 17 or 18 right now,” Dennett said. “We gained a couple recently and lost one. For the most part, it’s been on the plus side. It’s a lot different than it was years ago, when there were 30 of us.”

A member of the Finance Committee asked Dennett why there was such a decrease in funding for the department’s phone lines.

Dennett said he made some adjustments to the cellphone service, which resulted in a “pretty significant decrease on our bill.”

“As for our land-lines, those prices are pretty stable,” he added.

Also Monday, selectmen unanimously approved a $3,258 Boards and Committees budget proposal, and a $198,027 Public Safety budget proposal.

mdaigle@sunmediagroup.net

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