Budget goes back and forth in Falls Village

FALLS VILLAGE — The Board of Finance cut some $28,099 from the Board of Selectmen’s proposed spending plan for 2024-25 at a three-hour special meeting Wednesday, April 24.

Finance chair David Wilburn started off by saying the board had to strike “a balance between delivering expected services and the cost of those services.”

“A budget is not just a collection of numbers. It is an expression of our values and aspirations.”

During public comment there was support for more funding from the town for the David M. Hunt Library.

The board then proceeded through the spending plan, line by line.

The library came up again. finance board member John Steines said that the library requested a 40% increase in funding. The selectmen reduced the increase to 30%, which is still more of a percentage increase than other services.

As the meeting wound down, Steines said, “This is not the way to run budgets.”

He proposed that the finance board meet with all departments throughout the year to discuss their spending needs. “We’ll be poised to do a better job” next year, Steines said.

The Board of Finance will hold another special meeting Monday, April 29, to discuss the education spending plan and recommend both municipal and education plans to a public hearing.