Council opens hearing and begins line‑by‑line FY2027 review; questions raised about revenue, assessments and capital plan

Following public comment, the Lincoln council opened a public hearing on the proposed FY2027 municipal budget and began a department‑by‑department review that exposed gaps in revenue documentation and prompted requests for follow‑up from staff.

Members and attendees repeatedly noted that the packet lacked clear revenue schedules and that trust‑fund withdrawals had been discussed without full documentation. A budget committee member asked where the revenue figure of $5,171,761 (as presented in a packet) originated and whether specific trust funds were being tapped. Councilors asked staff to supply a full revenue budget and monthly expense/revenue reporting as required by law.

The town clerk detailed line‑by‑line constraints in her budget, noting statutory posting and election costs, fees that are collected in the finance account and recurring printing needs for the town report. Alex Fair, who identified himself as assistant clerk and assistant tax collector, said department heads best know their operating needs and urged the council to heed their professional judgments.

On assessments and code enforcement, Byron Sanderson said he had inspected properties and found homes not reflected in town records; the new code enforcement officer (Nick) reported 49 letters sent and several properties without permits. Council members asked for a status update on the list of 156 properties flagged by residents and requested that the manager coordinate follow‑up and reporting.

Capital and equipment items drew specific attention: councilors identified a capital account line of roughly $175,000 for equipment that was not present on all circulated pages and asked staff to circulate corrected pages; police representatives asked for approval to purchase four in‑car cameras (estimated roughly $13,000 for install/first year) with the possibility of grant funding to offset costs; the fire department described aging apparatus and station maintenance needs (exhaust system, doors) and urged aggressive pursuit of federal grants.

Council members proposed several near‑term approaches: accept the manager’s budget with a hiring freeze while staff clean up revenue and assessment records, or pursue reductions that would bring spending closer to earlier fiscal years. No final adoption or cuts were approved that night. Staff were asked to return with updated revenue pages, a five‑year capital plan and a code enforcement/assessment status report at the next council meeting.