January 16, 2013 BETHLEHEM—There was little commentary about the budget by the dozen people who turned out to review it during Monday night's budget hearing.
They also reviewed the proposed warrant articles.
Overall there was little change from last year, with the budget dropping by $72,805, to $2,311,805, from last year's $2,384,610. The default budget would be $2,342,716 if the proposed budget didn't pass.
The departments that saw the largest difference from last year were assessing and the highway department. The highway department's budget rose by $37,820 to $592,100, while assessing dropped by $58,744 to $26,930, as the town winds down from its regularly scheduled assessment.
The legal budget, often a point of contention in previous years, dropped by $7,000, down to $45,000. Last year, voters agreed to end a years long legal battle with the owners of the Trudeau Road landfill over its expansion, which reduced the legal budget down from a yearly average of around $180,000, netting the town a potential annual savings of a little over $100,000.
The 26 proposed warrant articles were also discussed at Monday's meeting. The topics that received the most attention were the proposal to build a new library, and the viability of the Bethlehem Country Club.
There was no opposition to building the library, which is to be built later this year on town owned land on the site of the former Maplehurst Hotel and will cost $1.6 million, all of which was already donated by private individuals. The concern was with the wording of the warrant article authorizing accepting the funds and building the structure. One resident noted that the wording of the article was confusing and might lead voters to believe they were being asked to raise $1.6 million from taxation, when in fact the bulk of the money had been donated several years ago, most from one man.
Selectmen said they would try to get it reworded so that mention of the donated funds would be right at the beginning of the warrant article.
The Bethlehem Country Club came under scrutiny, as it has in the past. Resident Dick Robie said he believed the facility has outlived its usefulness and compared it to the Maplewood Golf Club, which is just down the road. Maplewood pays taxes whereas the Bethlehem Country Club does not, since it is town owned.
Selectman Jerry Blanchard said the facility pays for itself, it doesn't cost taxpayers anything. It has value for the town because it brings people to town who spend money at restaurants and stores in town.
Robie said he believed that was the case at one time when Bethlehem had more establishments—but no longer.
"It don't see the benefit on a big scale…I think we've outlived its usefulness as a town entity."
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