Troy voters mull hiring town administrator

by PAUL CUNO-BOOTH Sentinel Staff
https://www.sentinelsource.com/news/local/troy-voters-mull-hiring-town-administrator/article_fa21da8d-745c-5ea5-a4bf-5da9053557fc.html

Proposed operating budget: $1,540,274, up $44,890, or 3 percent, from the $1,495,384 operating budget approved last year.

That figure does not include water and sewer operations, which have a proposed operating budget of $405,108, the same as approved in 2018.

Operating budget comparisons don’t necessarily reflect the change in the property tax rate, which is also affected by other warrant articles and changes in revenue.

Hot topics: This year’s warrant proposes the hiring of a full-time town administrator, which Troy lacks. The new position’s impact on the budget would be relatively small — $3,232 — due to a planned reorganization of administrative staff, according to Richard Thackston 3rd, chairman of the board of selectmen.

A separate article, costing $16,445, would give town employees an estimated 3 percent raise starting April 1. The article does not include library or water and sewer employees, whose raises are covered in the budgets for those departments. It also excludes the elected positions of selectmen, treasurer, trustee of the trust funds and moderator.

Other articles include:

Equipment purchases and facilities expenditures, including a $20,000 trust-fund withdrawal for repairs to the town hall and $35,000 in capital-reserve money for a tool used in extricating people from vehicles after crashes. Thackston said the purchase would replace an older, out-of-date model.

$56,731 in road maintenance and reconstruction, paid for with state grant money.

$89,200 in contributions to different capital-reserve funds and trust funds.

$5,947 in contributions to area nonprofit agencies.

Expanding eligibility for the veterans’ property-tax credit, and raising the credit from $250 to $500.

Adopting the provisions of RSA 79-E, the community revitalization tax relief incentive. That chapter of state law, meant to encourage the reuse and rehabilitation of structures in downtown areas, allows a municipality to grant property tax relief on building or renovation projects that meet certain criteria.

Contested races: None

Elections: Tuesday, March 12, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Samuel E. Paul Community Center on South Street

Town meeting: Wednesday, March 13, at 7 p.m. at the Troy Elementary School

Paul Cuno-Booth can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1409, or pbooth@keenesentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter at @PCunoBoothKS