Bethel Town Budget Has 14% Increase Proposed
By Chris Costanzo

The Bethel Selectboard has approved a budget for the coming fiscal year of $1,051,411, which is a 14% increase over last year’s 12-month equivalent of $920, 092. The increase was distributed throughout all the town departments as a result of rising costs across the board.

At the board’s Monday, Jan. 8 meeting, Town manager Dell Cloud noted that last year’s budget covered a one time 18-month transition period as the town moved from a calendar year to fiscal year accounting system. So for the purposes of comparison, he calculated last year’s 12-month equivalent as 67% of the 18-month budget.

After deducting anticipated town revenues of $238,175, the amount to be raised by taxes for the 2007-2008 budget will be $813,236, and would require a municipal tax rate of $0.77 per $100 of property valuation. However, there may be additional expenditures approved at Town Meeting. These include $14,550 for human services grants (up from $13,725), $87,300 for the ambulance service, (up from $61,968), and a $25,000 item for the town hall restoration fund (unchanged). If the voters approve all the additions, the amount to be raised by taxes will increase to $940,086, generating a tax rate of $0.89, in contrast to 0.74 in 2006.

The recommended town hall appropriation of $25,000 generated some discussion. Last year, the $25,000 input to the town hall restoration fund was integrated as a line item in the regular budget. Many supporters of the town hall restoration project expected the appropriation to remain as a line item in the budget as an indication of the town’s ongoing commitment to a policy of gradual build up of resources for a phased restoration of the building.

Both Amy Bergamo, chair of the town hall finance committee, and Chris Hemond, co-chair of the town hall construction committee, expressed dismay over selectboard chair Neal Fox’s comment that, given the current "crunch for money," the voters should consider the town hall appropriation as a separate item.

Hemond noted that separating the town hall appropriation from the basic budget puts into question the town’s commitment, expressed by the selectboard earlier, to the town hall’s restoration. Bergamo said that without a visible and continuing commitment to the town hall, it would become very difficult to justify any donations for the project when approaching potential grantors.

The discussion was punctuated by long and uncomfortable silences as the selectboard pondered the issue, gazing alternately at the ceiling and the table before them.

Selectman Eric Benson moved to place the $25,000 appropriation back into the budget as a line item, but selectman Bill Richards advocated it as a separate agenda item.

After another very long silence, Fox said that since Benson’s motion did not receive a second, the town hall appropriation would be a separate item, and not be inserted into the budget.

Another issue that sparked discussion was a request from Louise Ferris-Burt for a special appropriation for $5,000 to help bring Randolph’s Chandler Music Hall into compliance with today’s building codes. Ferris-Burt noted that many Bethel students as well as adults benefit from an array of partially-subsidized programs at Chandler, and that other nearby towns are also being asked to contribute. She explained that although the building is owned by the town of Randolph, a non-profit organization takes care of its maintenance and in return uses it for cultural and artistic events.

Richards noted, "It would be foolish to give such money to the town of Randolph when we ourselves are trying to raise money for our own town hall." The board agreed, and the request will not be placed on the agenda.

Many will see the increase in Bethel’s budget as long in coming, since the selectboard has managed to hold the municipal tax at a more or less level rate these past few years. The selectboard will meet again Monday, Jan. 22, at which time further changes to the proposed budget will still be possible. 

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