Hollis Budget Committee accepts minutes, hears clean audit news and updates on town projects and capital planning

The Hollis Budget Committee met July 14 and unanimously approved the minutes from its June 9 meeting before moving into reports from school and town officials.

The SAU business administrator told the committee the business office is now fully staffed and that the district received a clean audit opinion for fiscal year 2025. "We received a clean audit opinion," the SAU business administrator said, adding staff are preparing for the FY26 audit and that the auditor will provide an overview at the August coop budget committee meeting. Committee members discussed options for formally presenting the audit to the school board.

On town finances, the town finance director said about 96% of property taxes have been collected. She reported an outstanding warrant balance of $872,900 on a levy of $21,972,000 and said expenditures are running at roughly 50% of budget at the fiscal midpoint. "So we're in pretty good shape there," the town finance director said.

Committee members also heard progress reports on capital projects. Officials said major road work (Dow Road) is complete for the season, the transfer-station project is moving ahead, solar panels at the Department of Public Works are expected to be finished by the end of August, and police-station septic repairs are currently out to bid. Police cruisers have been ordered.

A structural assessment of town hall is scheduled to begin with consultants on July 23; the town finance director said a written report is expected by late August or September. The committee emphasized that town-hall work should be staged to avoid sudden full compliance costs and discussed the trade-offs between renovating the existing building and pursuing a consolidated municipal center that could combine police, fire and communications facilities. One member urged an approach that would keep the property "usable or sellable," while another cautioned against rushing into large infrastructure projects that could tie up resources.

The committee also approved a new recreation-field usage fee structure intended to generate revenue by allowing outside organizations paid access to town fields. Members said no comparable fee existed previously.

As part of capital planning, the committee reported a consolidated first-pass 10-year projection for town, school and coop projects will be shared with boards; committee members said that first-pass will help prioritize projects and guide fall budget-setting.

Next steps: the SAU will proceed with the FY26 audit work, the town will receive the town-hall structural assessment later this summer, and the committee will reconvene in September for further capital-prioritization work. The committee noted there is no budget committee meeting in August.