Budget committee seeks clearer revenue accounting as it weighs tax-cap assumption

The Budget Committee spent a lengthy portion of its Dec. 22 meeting probing how Brentwood estimates revenues used to set the town tax-cap and how those estimates appear on the state 4-34 and 4-34R forms. Members said inconsistent or missing detail in revolving-account transfers and year-end reconciliations make it difficult to evaluate whether revenue estimates are conservative or undercounting receipts.

"We had to set this on file so that we had a number for tax rate," one member said, summarizing the procedural constraint. Committee members reviewed recent April submissions and compared them to audited annual-report figures and urged the town administrator and tax collector to come to the committee with reconciled receipts, particularly for the recreation and fire/EMS revolving accounts.

Members discussed guidance from the New Hampshire Municipal Association (NHMA) and the Department of Revenue Administration (DRA) and considered whether to adopt a 3.3% revenue-growth assumption rather than the 4% that had been considered. NHMA advisers recommended conservatism; one committee member suggested a flat or lower estimate based on recent years and car-sales volatility, which affects motor-vehicle revenues.

Committee members also flagged the town's unassigned fund-balance trend, noting it had fallen from higher historical levels to approximately $1.67 million in the documents reviewed. They warned that setting overly conservative estimates could create a recurring pattern of large unassigned balances that would then be used to lower future tax rates, creating volatility for taxpayers across years.

The committee voted to ask the town administrator to attend a future meeting (or provide written reconciliation) that shows the April 4-34/4-34R inputs, receipts, interfund transfers, and the reconciled bank receipts the new chief requested for the fire/EMS revolving account. That meeting was scheduled to follow select-board action on outstanding budgets; members proposed a January session to review the reconciliations before public hearings and the deliberative session in February.