A year after townspeople turned Paris’ 2026 budget vote into a four-hour slashfest, this year’s annual town meeting June 15 took less than 40 minutes with little debate and all warrant articles easily passed.

The municipal budget for fiscal year 2027 as presented and approved is $6.46 million.

The Select Board and budget committee gave consistent recommendations for each department’s bottom line, a far cry from 2025 when many voters accused selectmen of being indifferent to the $7.47 million proposal — and responded by cutting $1.2 million during town meeting.

The resulting spending package was $600,000 lower than the 2024-25 budget and led to cutting employee hours. Many employees, notably in the administrative and police departments, ended up leaving for other jobs or retirement.

The 100-plus residents in attendance at this year’s town meeting showed such strong support for the spending that budget articles 21-32 passed with a single omnibus-style vote.

Department budgets included police, $1.15 million; fire, $404,407; highway, $1.23 million; parks and recreation, $45,500; social/community services, $266,896; unclassified, $570,007; capital expenditures, $1.1 million; and solid waste $402,022.

The only article generating debate the $692,651 budget for administrative services provided at the town office.

Lisa Palmer, an alternate on the budget committee, made a motion to amend the amount to $753,450. The $60,800 adjustment would restore the parks and recreation director to full-time, allow pay increases for administrative staff and reinstate full-time public-facing staff at the town office.

Palmer’s motion was supported by budget committee member Elizabeth Knox. Knox is the former town clerk who retired last August when her position was cut from 40 to 24 hours a week.

“I do feel that when the town manager brought forward her budget to us, it was bare bones,” Palmer said. “And I feel that in order for our town office, who collects $12 million a year to run this town … We need to start supporting them.”

But Robert Jewell, budget committee chair, said the administrative budget proposed by Town Manager Natalie Andrews was approved by both the Select Board and the committee and was appropriate for voters to approve.

Committee member Janet Jameson and Selectman Robert Ripley echoed Jewell’s defense of the original article amount.

After Palmer’s amendment motion failed, the original article passed with only a few dissenting votes.

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