Budget Committee Hit Snag with Its Early Budget Efforts

The Hudson Budget Committee ran into trouble in its effort to get an early start on the town budget at their June meeting.
“We unanimously voted to request a default budget from both the town and the SAU by July 20. The chief objective in doing that was so this Committee could have adequate time to review the calculations of the default budget, which we felt we did not have in the last budget cycle,” said Vice Chair, James Lawrence. “Since that meeting, and that request was forwarded to both the Board of Selectmen and the School Board, we were informed that we should not expect to receive those default budgets by that date.”
He expressed his disappointment at the response, believing it was essential to get default numbers before August, also worrying that the default budgets were not being calculated correctly.
“I would like to ask for further clarification from both the Board of Selectmen and the School Board as to whether we can expect a default budget sooner than we receive the proposed budget for next year.”
The hope was to have at least some numbers by the Committee’s August meeting, along with an explanation of the default calculation process.
Selectmen Liaison, Heidi Jakoby, indicated that at least part of the issue came from calculation requirements.
“I did receive an outline of the general fund default budget Fiscal Year 2026 with a number of question mark, there are a number of numbers they can calculate, and a number of numbers they cannot,” said Jakoby.
She went on to say that factors like workers’ compensation, dental insurance, health insurance, and proper liability insurance premium rates will not be known until at least September. Contracts with cost-of-living clauses and the biannual pension rate are unknown until mid-July or later.
“For these reasons, we do not set the default budget until October at the earliest,” she explained.
However, Jakoby indicated the town would be willing to show the Budget Committee an outline of other numbers.
Lawrence thanked her for the response and welcomed the opportunity to get whatever information they could.
“The laundry list of items, which the Board of Selectmen couldn’t give up by 20 July, compensation, etcetera, etcetera, you said all of those for the current fiscal year had a dollar figure?” asked Chair, Bill Cole.
Jakoby listed $496,578 as the amount for the current year, a number the Chair suggested using as an estimate with the rest of the default numbers to see what the budget might be next year. He also expressed interest in learning more about the process used to come up with default budget numbers.
Committee member, Kevin Walsh, added that the process was different for the town and SAU.
“I will contact the school and town and request a presentation at the August meeting, with regard to the process that’s being followed by each organization,” Cole promised.

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