Select Board reviews budget outlook; flags legal and emergency‑management spending

The Select Board reviewed current budget lines and early budget guidance for the coming fiscal cycle during the meeting. The chair noted the town has expended a large portion of its legal budget ('we've already we've expanded 21 and we have 19 left') and asked whether the board should be cautious about further legal expenditures; the town administrator advised staff will check other avenues and monitor costs.

Members also examined emergency‑management spending: the chair asked what the roughly $11,000 expended so far had covered, as the emergency‑management program had not had much activity this year. The town administrator said she would look up specific charges and report back. The administrator highlighted inflationary pressures, noting the transportation CPI was "8.4" in a recent report and advising department heads that fuel and CPI measures should inform budget requests. The board directed individual meetings between select members and department heads to surface needs ahead of formal budget recommendations.