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Budget Committee Agenda (minutes)

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Town of Candia 
Budget Committee 
Unapproved Meeting Minutes 
September 9, 2026 
Town Hall Meeting Room 
 
Meeting called to order at 6:30 pm by Chair Lynn Chivers, followed by the 
Pledge of Allegiance. 
Board Members Present: Lynn Chivers, Katrina Niles, Stephanie Helmig, 
Susan Young, Steve Tremblay, Susan Gill, Dan Coffin, Danielle Davis 
Absent: Ryan Young   
Introductions for new member, Danielle Davis. 
Old Business: Approval of minutes from the August 12 non-public meeting. 
Dan made a motion to accept the minutes. Steve seconded. All in favor. 
Motion passed. 
Approval of minutes from the August 12 public meeting-Steve made a 
motion to accept the minutes as corrected. Stephanie seconded. All in favor. 
Motion passed. 
Answers to questions from last meeting: Town-The cemetery has had 
damage from trees that fell. The question is about the funds to handle the 
removal. Beth Chalbeck, Cemetery Committee Chair., explained there are 4 
trees to be removed. Getting the trees out is difficult with the headstones. 
One of the largest trees is in the center of the grounds and requires a crane 
for removal. It was estimated to cost around $7,000. for each tree. The 
$15,000. in the cemetery committee account was insufficient.  The $12,000. 
for immediate use would not cover the cost of even one and a half trees. The 
cemetery committee had asked Ron Severino about getting a crane, but 
access is limited for a large machine. One option considered would be on the 
church’s property . This would consist of a ramp being built up over the wall 
on the edge of the cemetery. However, the church has its septic system in 
that spot as well as four other trees in the way that would need to come 
down for the access. Mark Chalbeck spoke about the $15,000. being for the 

wages and fall clean-up. He also mentioned that work needed to be done in 
December for the new plot area in the Village Cemetery, requiring gravel 
that they still need to acquire at an additional cost. The Cemetery Facility 
Improvement line was $16,000. last year. They spent  $15,880. The cemetery 
committee had encumbered $15,000. to work on the Village Cemetery and 
that was expended. 
 The Road Agent had been asked about his budget for next year. He said it 
will be tight. He also has the warrant article for extra winter maintenance. 
School questions- There was a question about encumbrances from older 
years, specifically regarding the bus amount. Stephanie reported that the 
auditors were okay with encumbering the disputed funds, and there was 
another encumbrance from a previous year. The issue of the bus company 
changing law firms was a reason for the delay in resolving the dispute, with 
significant legal costs incurred. 
New Business-Town Report-The Ambulance Revolving fund has a balance 
of $268,000. Lynn reported the plan was to eliminate the revolving fund and 
transfer the balance to a capital reserve fund through warrant articles in the 
current year, as they were unable to do it in the previous year. This would 
involve two warrant articles: one to transfer the balance and another to 
eliminate the fund. Not knowing if the warrant articles will pass is difficult. 
Expenses for the Ambulance Revolving fund were briefly discussed with 
one invoice noted for Stryker, likely being medical equipment. 
Lynn noted that the Budget Committee’s transactions do not have to be 
included in every monthly report, as they can refer to the overall town 
budget expenditures report. Lynn will let Tamera know.  
The town department head’s budget requests have been submitted. But no 
votes by the Selectmen have been taken. Dan asked if they can comment and 
ask questions? Lynn said it would be premature to comment on any of it 
now. Lynn said the committee’s role is to allow these proposals to go to the 
ballot for the townspeople to decide. The budget committee will review 
them after the Selectmen meeting and will send them out for members to 
review and think about questions. The COLA (cost of living) was discussed. 
It could possibly be 2.5% to 3.5%.  

School Reports- Expenditures-The report is for only July and August. 
Stephanie reported they are still working on Special Education needs. There 
are new students requiring assessments for paraprofessional support. 
Other-The calendar for the budget season was discussed. The school’s 
Deliberative Session is scheduled for February 4th at 6pm at the school, snow 
date of Feb. 6th at noon at the school. Susan Y. requested considering holding 
the school deliberative session on a Saturday due to concerns for older 
residents driving in the dark. The town deliberative session was tentatively 
set for January 30th. Petition warrant articles are due January 13th. The town 
meeting will be on March 9th. 
Steve T. asked about the printing of less town reports. Susan Y. said it was 
overdrawn. The committee agreed to bring this up again. Katrina asked 
about a warrant article to print less town reports. Lynn said it would have to 
be a citizen’s petition to change the printing of the town reports. 
The joint meeting for the School Board and the Budget Committee is 
tentatively set for Monday, November 23rd. Lynn requested to check and see 
if that works for all members of the committee. It was also noted that they 
will need to have a supplemental hearing in January after the petition 
warrant articles are submitted. 
A motion to adjourn was made by Katrina. Susan G. seconded. All in favor. 
Meeting adjourned at 7:12pm. Next meeting is October. 14. 
 
  
Respectfully submitted, 
Janet Lewis 
Admin. Assist.