NEWPORT — The Sullivan County delegation of state representatives approved a $42.1 million budget for the fiscal year that begins Tuesday.
The budget, approved at Friday’s annual delegation convention in a 10-3 vote, increases the amount to be raised by taxes by 6.3%, or $1.1 million, which is well below the original projection of nearly 10%.
The reduction is due to a combination of higher revenues for the current fiscal year and a reduction in expenses of $1.9 million, figures the delegation’s Executive Finance Committee presented at Friday’s convention showed.
The budget is projected to increase annual county taxes on a property assessed at $250,000 by $42.
The committee said it expects $1.4 million from interest income, the Registry of Deeds, and ProShare, which is additional Medicaid reimbursement for this year.
The expense budget for the current year is projected to be 2.25%, or $500,000, lower than the previous proposal. The committee cut $103,000 by eliminating a position in the Department of Corrections and another at University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension.
Overall, expenses are up less than 1%, or nearly $300,000.
The major increase in expenses for next year is a first-year bond payment of $743,000 for the ongoing county nursing home renovation.
Also showing an increase is nursing home expenses of $146,000, but revenues at the facility are estimated to increase $110,000 as more beds come back online with the renovation expected to be finished in the new fiscal year.
Combined, the committee said of the $2.6 million in higher revenues and lower expenses in the budget approved Friday, $660,000 will be used to offset the projected tax increase in the new fiscal year.
State Reps. Hope Damon, D-Croydon, Skip Rollins, R-Newport, and George Grant, R-Sunapee, cast the three no votes against the budget.
Reached Sunday, Grant said he voted no because he wanted to see the tax increase at 5% and had hoped some savings could be found by reducing the number of new vehicles in the Sheriff’s Department from six to three.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclm@gmail.com.
