Town employees are in line for 8% raises to offset the rising cost of living as part of Chichester’s proposed operating budget for next year.

Chichester residents will be asked to approve the town’s $3.16 million operational budget, which is a 4.4% increase over the current year, at the annual town meeting next month. If the budget is approved, it will raise the local property tax rate to $5.43, or 12 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation.

Residents will also be asked to weigh the school’s operational budget, which is an 11% increase over the previous year due in part to the elevated costs of private transportation and special education.

Selectmen chair Richard Bouchard said the wage increases for all town employees were meant to offset inflation and the rising cost of living, which increased 8.7% this year.

Of the 20 warrant articles residents will be asked to review, eight of them relate directly to the Chichester Fire Department which would see a 5.32% increase in funding from the current year’s budget.

Residents will be asked to approve $384,000 to purchase an ambulance, $322,000 to purchase a forestry vehicle, $75,000 to establish a fire rescue apparatus and equipment capital reserve fund, $43,000 to vehicle maintenance, fire equipment and personal protective gear, $17,000 to maintain the department’s power load system over six years and $12,000 to defray the cost of running the ambulance service.

Additionally, residents will be asked to approve $256,000 to replace the highway department loader, $49,500 to reconstruct and pave the lower parking lot of the Chichester Town Hall and $49,000 to replace a generator at the highway department.

School spending

The proposed school operating budget presented at the public hearing on Wednesday is $7.2 million. If approved, it would raise the local school property tax by $2.24 per $1,000 of property value, which is an increase of $672 more a year for a house worth $300,000.

Breaking down the budget, business administrator Amber Wheeler explained much of the increase comes from special education transportation which is up by $137,000, the need for additional program assistants to meet specific student needs and transportation, which is up by $366,000.

Additionally, residents will be asked to approve $100,000 for the special education expendable trust fund, $16,000 to the technology expendable trust fund and $25,000 to the building maintenance expendable trust fund which, in total, will raise taxes by 43 cents.

The increases, Wheeler explained, will offset unanticipated costs in each fund if a new student were to move to town or the school’s roof needed emergency repairs.

The warrant articles will be voted on by the residents during election day on March 14.

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