Barre Finance Committee approves December minutes, schedules February budget presentations

BARRE -- January 21, 2021, Barre Finance Committee kicks off FY2022 budget season with mid-year spending review. The committee, led by Chair Zachary Macutkiewicz, approved its December 3 minutes and reviewed preliminary departmental budget submissions compiled by the town accountant, who noted that several departments, including the schools, had not yet filed numbers. Members flagged that the fire department's longevity account had already exceeded its FY2021 appropriation at roughly the fiscal year's midpoint, when departments should be at about 50 percent of spending. The committee discussed reviving the town's dormant capital improvement committee to update a five-year capital plan that members said had effectively expired at the end of FY2020. Budget presentations from small departments, including Conservation, Planning, the veterans agent, and the Youth Commission, are scheduled for February 4 via Zoom, with members expressing a preference for holding departmental increases to around 2 percent under Proposition 2½ constraints.