Annual budget process formally begins for Windham

By Ed Pierce 

Windham has begun its budgeting process for
2022-2023 by submitting a proposal by Town
Manager Barry Tibbetts to the Windham Budget
Committee. The process culminates with a vote
by residents at the Annual Town Meeting in June.
COURTESY PHOTO 

With a unanimous vote of the Windham Town Council during a meeting on Tuesday night, the annual process of formulating Windham’s annual town budget for 2022-2023 is underway.

Councilors approved sending a preliminary budget developed by Windham Town Manage Barry Tibbetts to the Windham Budget Committee for review and then an in-depth examination of the budget will be discussed and finalized over the next few months by the town council. Once councilors sign off on a final budget package, the proposal will be voted on by residents during the annual town meeting to be held on June 18.

As part of the preliminary proposed budget sent to the Windham Budget Committee, Tibbetts included funding for local access roads in conjunction with Windham’s overall plan to reduce traffic congestion in the Route 302 corridor and funding for the new North Windham Wastewater system. His proposed budget also includes funding for the East Windham Conservation Project, preliminary engineering work on a Windham NorthWest Fire Station and to create more sidewalks in the town as part of the 21st Century Plan.

Tibbett’s preliminary budget proposal also continues funding included in the 2021-2022 town budget for the installation of smart traffic lights along Route 302 stretching from the intersection of Route 302 and Route 115 to White’s Bridge Road, additional capital equipment purchases and for renovation work on the Public Safety Building on Gray Road housing the Windham Fire and Police Departments.

Specific items in Tibbett’s new budget proposal includes funding for an engineering study for road improvements to the River Road and Route 202 intersection; firewall and switch replacement in town facilities; a Public Safety Memorial at the renovated Police and Fire Station; conservation of town records; a Windham Parks and Recreation Department storage container and reserves set aside for capital projects and for bonding use.

The initial budget amount that Tibbetts is proposing is $37,525,605, up an increase of about $3,065,802
from last year’s budget of $34,459,803. That’s about an 8.8 percent proposed budget increase.

Under the proposal, Windham’s Long-Term Debt obligation with a bond of $6.7 million would fund the new local access roads, open space purchases for the East Windham Conservation Project and abutting lands, South Windham Village Center Route 202 sidewalks, Route 302 sidewalks, new trash containers, River Road/Route 202 intersection improvements, and a wastewater system for North Windham.

Under short-term obligations, Tibbetts is proposing the lease/purchase of heavy equipment and vehicles for the town amounting to $850,000 for a plow truck, an ambulance, an ACO truck, a crime lab truck, a fire crew cab half-ton pick-up truck, a fire vehicle and two pick-up trucks, and CPR compression units.

The proposed budget also includes funding for rebuilding and paving Hall Road which is currently a dirt road.

If funding in this proposal is approved, the town would add a shared mental health services position for Windham Police with the Town of Gorham, create a field assessing position for the Town Assessor’s Department, and an assistant director position for the Finance Office, and add four new Fire/EMS personnel. It would restructure two positions with the Parks Supervisor moving to Grounds Maintenance and an Assessing Administrative position moving to a Special Projects position in the Town Manager’s Office.

Under the newly proposed budget, existing vacant positions for Code Officer, a part-time library assistant, tax collection clerk, a per diem Fire/EMS position, and a custodian would be eliminated. <