Weare selectmen: ‘No need’ to request emergency funding

The Weare Board of Selectmen held a public hearing last night on a potential emergency funding request in anticipation that the town might need additional funds “due to unusual circumstances that have arisen during the year.”

After reviewing the town’s finances, selectmen Chairman Tom Clow said last night that the board will not apply for emergency expenditure funds for 2014 from the Department of Revenue.

“There’s really no need to make that request at this time,” Clow said last night.

The town posted a notice last week as a precaution. As of last Monday’s selectmen meeting, 8.39 percent of the town’s budget remained, about $200,000, according to the meeting minutes.

“We really have to be cautious because the law does not allow us to overspend,” Clow said.

Last night, the board said there is about $177,000 remaining in the town’s budget for the year.

Contributing to the town’s budgetary concerns – or the “unusual circumstances,” according to the public notice – was the total of the town’s budget, unexpected spending due to the recent snowstorm and fees related to the police department.

“We’re living on the default budget,” Clow said last week. Weare’s default budget is $5.04 million; an operating budget of $5.11 million was rejected at the March town meeting.

Legal expenses for the town were budgeted at $66,900 for 2014; $117,867.29 was actually spent this year, putting legal expenses more than $50,000 over budget.

The town spent more than $58,000 on legal fees just for the police department in 2014, according to information provided at a November public forum. The public forum was held to hear questions and concerns, mostly related to the police department, from Weare residents. Former police chief John Velleca resigned in October. He was accused of assaulting his administrative assistant in September following a brief affair.

The police department is within its $1.4 million budget for 2014, with 5.27 percent remaining, as of the budget information provided last night.

The early winter storms added to the town’s expenses, Clow said last week. “It pushed our budget a little closer to the line,” he said.

Budget information presented at last night’s meeting showed that about 10 percent of the highway department budget remains for the year.



(Susan Doucet can be reached at 369-3309, sdoucet@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @susan_doucet.)