Brentwood recreation committee scrutinizes 2026 budget, flags missing electric offsets and salary accounting

Brentwood Town Recreation Committee members spent the meeting focused on the committee's proposed 2026 recreation budget, identifying accounting errors, missing electric offset credits and a need for clearer backup before the budget goes to the select board and the town budget committee.

Committee members said the only change carried into the 2026 draft was a salary line added via a warrant article; staff said the $12,000 addition previously was taken from the unreserved fund balance and must be moved to the correct account. Town Administrator Julie (referred to in discussion as the new town administrator) was identified as the staff member who will make the fund swap.

Why it matters: committee members warned that the select board and the budget committee will expect a clear, line-by-line justification at upcoming presentations and that missing documentation — especially quarterly electric bills and solar/offset credits — could force the committee to postpone or revise its presentation.

Most of the conversation centered on seasonal staffing and how the added wages interact with payroll-related costs. Committee members and staff described the summer-camp director/summer-season staffing pattern as two different pay regimes: roughly 16 weeks of 40-hour summer weeks (May–mid/late August) and the balance of the year at approximately 25.5 hours per week. Staff said a 3% pay increase (about $0.66 per hour in the examples discussed) was in the draft, producing a calculated yearly total that participants noted needed a small correction.

The group also raised a separate accounting concern: solar-energy credits from the town's Eversource account were not reflected on the recreation committee's bills. Staff reported conversations with Eversource suggesting the utility had issued credits to the town rather than posting offsets to the recreation account, and the committee does not see those credits on its QuickBooks view. Members noted the town typically covers roughly 55% of some facility electric costs while the recreation revolving account pays the remainder (about 45%), and that missing credits or missing quarterly bills for 2024 make year-to-date comparisons unreliable.

Committee members asked staff to deliver the missing documentation immediately. The items requested included the 2024 quarterly electric bill for the recreation account (fourth-quarter 2024 in particular), a reconciled spreadsheet showing town-paid versus recreation-paid electric expenses, and verification of how Eversource credits were applied. The committee set a goal of having the bills and an updated spreadsheet available in time to prepare a tight presentation: one participant urged staff to have a “nice package with a bow on it” before the committee takes the draft to the select board and the budget committee.

Other operational items discussed included facility energy controls (programmable/remote thermostats were described as planned upgrades), porta-potty costs (staff said $22.50 in the budget covers two year-round units with additional event costs paid from the revolving account), rental booking and website limitations (staff reported difficulties contacting the website vendor and identified online booking as a missed revenue opportunity), and lawn/field maintenance accounting (members noted the town pays a portion of mowing/maintenance while the recreation revolving fund covers the rest).

The committee agreed on next steps: staff will request and deliver missing electric bills and offsets to Julie and the committee; staff will update the historical spreadsheet (back to 2018, per an earlier version) comparing town contributions and recreation expenditures; and the committee will re-check the FICA/Medicare, New Hampshire retirement and payroll proration numbers after the fund swap. Committee members warned that without those items they may ask to postpone the presentation to the select board rather than present incomplete backup.

A handful of administrative reminders closed the meeting: the committee encouraged prompt follow-up with Julie, asked staff to use the spreadsheet template previously supplied, and confirmed that documentation would be circulated to the committee in advance of next week's meeting for review.

Ending: Committee members said they will press the town finance office to produce the outstanding bills and offsets immediately and plan to reconvene with corrected numbers before taking the 2026 recreation budget to the select board and the town budget committee.