RANGELEY — The Board of Selectmen held a public hearing Monday, March 17, to review annual town meeting draft warrant articles. The warrant is expected to be finalized during the next board meeting, Monday, April 7 at 6 p.m. in Town Office conference room.

The proposed $12 million 2025-26 budget reflects an increase of approximately $820,000 over the current budget. The draft budget included estimates for the RSU #78 and Franklin County budgets as those had not been finalized prior to the public hearing.

An informational public hearing covering the finalized warrant will be held Monday, May 5, at 5 p.m. The annual town meeting will take place 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, June 10 at the Town Office. Town meetings have been held by referendum, or secret ballot at the polls, since 2017.

Resident Chris Farmer referenced a petition previously brought before the board seeking to change the town meeting from a referendum to an open meeting format. After conferring with legal representation, the board rejected the petition.

“My understanding is that with the question that I brought up, you are going to do a straw poll but the wording of that is still being finalized,” Farmer stated. “I heard it was going to be on a separate slip.”

Town Manager Joe Roach said the way the question would be handled had not yet been finalized.

In reviewing the proposed budget, Roach said increases in the highway sewer, police and transfer station budgets were primarily related to Collective Bargaining Agreement contract increases to wages and benefits.

The transfer station budget includes a contractual five percent annual increase in tipping and hauling fees.

The finance portion of the general government budget reflects a $41,272 increase.

“The bulk of that is an arrangement we have with a Certified Public Accountant. That is a new element in the year we are in now and it is going to be carried into next year,” Roach explained.

The buildings portion of the same department budget increased $30,373. This is due, in part, to the need for new televisions, a water cooler and a projector for the conference room.

“The largest increase is in janitorial,” Roach said. “We are doubling the number of days they come. Two days a week isn’t keeping up now that we are fully staffed.”

An increase of $4340 in the public safety budget is related to the proposed installation of RFID locks to secure the department’s building.

EMS contract services item reflects an increase of $49,000. Roach said all towns that use NorthStar services have seen an increase.

“That is because the hospital has about an $800,000 deficit that they have asked the communities within NorthStar to help out with,” Roach said.

A one-time line item of $35,900 is earmarked for a Municipal Needs Assessment.

The capital purchases budget decreased by $4940.

Roach said capital projects planned for the upcoming fiscal year include a new gazebo for the town park; parking lot crack sealing, seal coating and striping for the town office complex parking lot; new flooring in the town office; additional boat dock at the town park; and SCBA equipment and radio replacements for the fire department. A request from the Parks and Recreation Department for a van purchase had been rescinded, he said.

Roach said, “The unassigned fund balance has more in it than we should have. We are going to bring that down over the next couple of years to bring us more in line with where we should be. One reason we have the unassigned fund balance we do is that we were unable to fill positions. We did not have competitive salaries and folks were not interested in those pay rates. We couldn’t fill positions, but we had to raise the money because we were hopeful we could fill them. I know that has been a little friction for some folks but that is the reality.”

He said all the recommendations from the Board of Selectmen and budget committee match in total.

“There are differences inside the body of some recommendations,” he added.

In addition to budgetary and business articles, there are several town officers that will be elected in June. There are two Board of Selectmen, one Parks Commission, one RSU #78 School Director, two Sewer Commission and two Budget Committee terms up for election. All positions are 3-year terms. Completed nomination papers are due to the Town Clerk Friday, April 11.