WHATELY — Voters at the annual Town Meeting on Tuesday unanimously adopted a budget for the next fiscal year which is $22,745 more than this year’s spending plan.
There were no protests from the crowd of roughly 100 at the Whately Elementary School and the $4,675,687 budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 passed without issue. Increases in areas such as general government and insurance benefits offset drops in items such as fuel for town vehicles.
Town Administrator Mark A. Pruhenski previously said that employee health insurance has gone up 6.8 percent because the town is part of the Hampshire County Group Insurance Trust, established by the state for the joint purchase of insurance. Pruhenski also said the budget consisted of a $5,500 increase in employment insurance because it has been underfunded in the past.
The general government budget includes an increase from $303,345 to $356,978. Much of this stems from a proposed $9,165 hike in office expenses for the Select Board which Pruhenski said is the result of a biannual financial audit becoming annual.
There is also an increase — from $57,969 to $63,051 — in the town administrator’s salary.
Voters also agreed on $13,000 for paving the town’s Highway Department lot to the salt shed, though a proposed amendment was overwhelmingly struck down. Select Board member Frederick Orloski made a motion to amend the article to allow spending on repairs to the town’s highway garage. There was some objection to this by the audience and Finance Committee member Joe Zewinski.
Orloski said the money is important because the town highway garage’s foundation is deteriorating. He also said he wants something done sooner, rather than later.
Select Board Chairman Jonathan Edwards said there is a capital planning process for the repairs Orloski was referring to and he felt that was the best way to handle the situation. He recommended defeating the proposed amendment and discuss specific figures for the town highway garage at a special Town Meting.
Voters then opted to authorize the Whately Board of Assessors to transfer from free cash $200,000 to reduce the tax levy for the next fiscal year. They also agreed to let the town borrow $145,000 to purchase a new plow-equipped dump truck for the Highway Department as part of the 2017 capital improvement plan. Pruhenski previously said the money would be borrowed from a bank and paid back over not more than three years.
Following a somewhat lengthy discussion, voters also authorized $84,000 from the Community Preservation Fund budgeted reserve to fund the preparation of bid-ready construction documents to rehabilitate the Town Hall on Chestnut Plain Road.