Weare residents deliberate on budgets, salary increases for paras and police 

By EILEEN O’GRADY

Monitor staff

Published: 02-10-2023 4:20 PM

Rising budgets, salary increases for police officers, town employees and paraeducators, and purchasing town vehicles will be a focus for Weare voters on Election Day in March.

Weare residents gathered at the middle school to discuss the town and school budgets and warrant articles that will appear on the ballot in March. 

The proposed school budget for 2023-2024 is $18.3 million, a 2.75% increase over this year’s budget of $17.8 million. It has an estimated tax increase of $1.01 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, or a $353 increase on a $350,000 house. If voters reject the school budget in the polls, a default budget of $18.2 million would go into effect.

“I think our administration has put together a very responsible proposal this year,” Weare School Board member William Politt said Wednesday night. “I think that every penny that could have been pinched was pinched.”

The Weare Finance Committee isn’t supporting the proposed school budget this year, saying in a statement that the district could operate on the default budget, and should have cut more staff and services to make the budget lower.

Other residents disagreed, saying that any cuts to the budget would negatively impact learning.

“We have a problem in this district with teacher retention,” said Weare resident Melissa Moultroup. “Teachers will not want to stay in this district if we are not able to give them all the funds that are needed to provide a high-quality education for teachers.”

In March, voters will also be asked to approve a paraeducator contract, which includes an estimated increase of $193,208 for salaries for the 2023-2024 school year, and an additional increase of $39,298 on top of that for 2024-2025. The pay scale for Para II positions – the certification level of most paraeducators in Weare – ranges from $14.91 to $21.73 per hour. The new agreement would have a pay scale of $16 to $22.50. 

Town budget

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Residents gathered on Saturday to discuss the town operating budget and articles. Voters made just one change to the warrant, accepting an amendment proposed by Selectman John Van Loendersloot on a question about whether to disband the Weare’s fire board. The amendment adds that the Select Board would take over duties of hiring fire personnel if the board is disbanded.

Weare’s proposed town operating budget is $7.97 million, a 7.5% increase over the current budget of $7.4 million. It has an estimated tax impact of $3.29.

If voters reject the town budget in the polls, a default budget of $7.4 million would go into effect. Weare has been operating on this default budget since 2019, as voters have rejected each proposed budget increase for the past three years.

“The default budgets have resulted in ever-increasing critical funding shortfalls in fuel, salt, parks, trash-hauling and I.T. needs,” said Tom Clow, chair of the Weare Finance Committee. “Each additional year with a default budget expands the gap between the proposed and the default budget.”

Voters will also be asked to approve a new contract with the police union that includes a $59,266 increase for police officer wages. Weare’s police officer salaries range from $50,000 to $65,000 per year, according to Chief Christopher Moore. The contract would increase their wages by 8%, which town officials say is important for employee retention.

“Hiring and retaining police officers is a nationwide problem,” Clow said. “It’s even more difficult for small communities like Weare. We cannot compete with large cities which are offering sign-on bonuses, better benefit packages, broader career opportunities.”

The town is also requesting that voters approve an increase of $98,225 to go to the salaries of non-union town and library personnel. The Finance committee cited similar difficulty in hiring and retaining employees.

Voters will also consider proposals to allocate money for new town vehicles, including $241,941 for a new 10-wheel plow truck for the Highway Department, $105,000 for a new fire utility truck and $78,000 for a new police cruiser.

“We’ve already seen where we’re unable to respond to calls for service due to a lack of vehicles,” said Moore, who described a day when a night-shift officer was delayed in responding to an accident because he had to wait for a day-shift officer to return to the station with a vehicle. 

Other warrant article requests include $20,000 to replace the 46-year-old tennis courts behind the library and $15,000 to re place aging Fire Department pagers.

Ballot voting on Weare’s town and school warrants will  take place March 14 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Weare Middle School.

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