Gilford voters critical of rising town, school budgets, as enrollment declines

GILFORD — Dozens of residents turned out for Thursday night’s budget hearing at Gilford High School auditorium, to weigh in on the town and school budgets, with respective increases of 5.09% and 2.67%.

“I’m really proud to lead this group of dedicated individuals who have worked tirelessly throughout this year to ensure our fiscal planning is sound, transparent, and align with the community goals and priorities,” said Budget Committee Chair Joshua Ritson.

Town budget

The proposed budget in Article 3 of the warrant totals $22.1 million, an increase of $1.1 million from last year. This includes debt service to pay for the new public works building, accounting for 67% of the operating budget increase.

The default budget is $22 million, a difference of $140,432 from the operating budget.

“That alone should show you how conservative this municipality has been with expenditures,” Ritson said.

Ritson said contractual wage, benefit and insurance increases for 2026 show merit pay increases of 3.5%. The town has not added any new positions to the budget, but there were some positions added last year that were only partially funded. This year, those positions, including a police prosecutor, fire training officer, a deputy code enforcement officer, and assessing technician, will be funded for the whole year.

Resident Doug Lambert asked for clarification about this. Town Administrator Scott Dunn said there were two new positions added last year, and two part-time positions were moved to full-time.

Inflation is a major driver, as it has increased the overall cost of goods and services.

The largest line item in the budget continues to be road improvements at $2.5 million, with no increase from last year.

There is also an increase in town administration, due to the upcoming transition when Dunn retires in August. Ritson said there will be a four-week overlap in salary for training the new administrator.

“Scott brings 30 years of knowledge in his experience and dedication, so the town’s going to need to spend some extra money for filling that vacancy, making sure we can bring someone who’s qualified in, as well,” Ritson said.

Ritson noted there have been some reductions in the budget, one being the cost of revaluations for property owners, cut by $50,000. Professional development is also down 25%, heating costs are down in town buildings across the board, special projects in the police and fire stations were cut, and lease payments from previous years have also ended.

Bill Rohr spoke from the audience, asking how many people in the room had an increase of more than 5% in their income.

“That’s what you’re asking us to pay,” Rohr said. “I did not have a 5% increase in my income and don’t believe anybody has. I would ask you to get a very sharp pencil, and take some really hard looks, and reduce this budget by at least 2%.”

The town will be voting on 31 warrant articles in March. Of those, 15 are part of the Capital Improvement Plan, and funds for 13 come from capital reserves and are not raised through new taxation.

Two projects which would not be paid through capital reserve are Article 4, which asks for $60,000 for a new breathing tank system for the fire department with an ongoing payment of $18,000 over the next five years, and Article 5 for a new fire rescue vehicle for a total of $96,000 and $23,000 paid this year if accepted.

The remaining non-petitioned articles would be paid through surplus funds, which Ritson said is not sustainable in the long-term, but fortunately town leaders are conservative in their budget process. The requests would take about $1 million from the fund.

Lambert spoke on using surplus funds, saying it seems like a way to spend by not returning money to the taxpayer. He would prefer to see those items budgeted.

He said an argument can be made that the capital reserve fund is like a rainy day account, but he prefers residents take an honest vote on spending so it can be properly calculated.

School budget

Article 2 of the school district warrant includes a proposed operating budget of $32.2 million, which is an increase of 2.67% over last year. The default budget is $31.2 million, or $886,757 less than the proposed budget.

“It reflects on how conservative the school really has been in their budgeting process this last year,” Ritson said.

The first increase is for the collective bargaining agreement in Article 3, which lays out salaries and benefits over three years. This year it shows an increase of $485,810.

“Overall, Gilford does an outstanding job at staffing from top to bottom,” Ritson said. “The administration is tasked at looking into the future, and actively trying to avoid massive expenditures while reflecting on historical spending.”

Another major increase is the First Student Bus contract, which increased by 17.5% The school looked into other companies, but none could fulfill the requirements of the district.

Superintendent Kirk Beitler said the contract was up, so they put out a request for proposals. First Student needs to increase employee wages, and the school’s buses have aged after a 10-year cycle.

Beitler said the increase will only impact the first year of the contract with First Student.

Ritson touched on enrollment, noting Gilmanton is considering moving to Prospect Mountain, which reduces the high school census by one third. Beitler said the school is in the second year of a 12-year agreement with Gilmanton, but by law the town is allowed to reconsider aspects of the contract.

Currently, there are students from Gilmanton at Prospect Mountain, and Beitler said there is a section of town closer to Prospect Mountain than Gilford. He said this is something that would be voted on as a warrant article, next year at the earliest.

Bob McLean, school board representative on the budget committee, said school board members in Gilmanton want to stick with the district, but the difference is the money.

“Their taxes went way up, and Prospect Mountain is offering $17,000 per year tuition, so it’s tough,” McLean said. “It’s up to the voters of Gilmanton to decide what they want to do.”

There is also a bill at the state level that allows for open enrollment for all public schools, which he said would drastically change things. Beitler said this means students could choose for students to go to any school. The caveat, he said, is the district sending a student to a new district only pays 80% of the per pupil cost, and they see this as a savings.

Currently it is about $26,000 per student, he said, and if the law changes to sending schools paying 80% of the cost, the district will lose money.

Student enrollment is decreasing. Right now there are 435 high school, 295 middle school, and 305 elementary school students, according to Beitler.

Lambert asked about funds spent on renovations at the Meadows, and Beitler said they will come from capital reserves. In Article 5, voters are asked to add $300,000 to the school buildings maintenance/improvement capital reserve fund to allocate funds for future repairs of the HVAC controls, and improvements to things like bathrooms and concessions.

Lambert said he was “severely opposed” to this, due to declining enrollment.

Gunstock Acres Village Water District budget

The hearing also included the Gunstock Acres Water District budget of $808,850. The district has been trying to reallocate funds to align with a five-year plan. Ritson said they are updating a system from the 1960s and '70s, and trying to coordinate with the town on patching and paving when replacing lines, and it makes sense to work together.

“Although there have been increases in water breaks over The Acres, this commission continues to be ahead of schedule on repairs,” Ritson said.

Ritson said maintenance fees are increasing, and there has been more demand in Gunstock Acres. It was a dry summer, and people kept irrigation running, so pump stations had a hard time keeping up. There will be increases as the commission plans to improve the pumps.

Commissioner Joe Geraci explained the budget was held to the previous year's numbers. Pump station 6 will be fixed, and is about 45% complete. The last pump station, finished in 2024, cost $1.4 million, with a bond of $1 million. He said the new pump station will require “considerable money” for a storage tank.

“That’s why we’re looking to keep the budget at the same number, and hopefully we’ll have that finished by 2027,” Geraci.

The deliberative session for the school budget will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 3, and for the town on Thursday, Feb. 5, both at 7 p.m. in the GHS Auditorium. Voting will take place at Gilford Youth Center from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 10.