Budget Season

It’s that time of year again. In January, we start reviewing our financials and planning the budget for the next fiscal year. Our schools, town departments, the Chester Hose Company and Boards and Commissions will be compiling and submitting their budget requests, which will be reviewed and discussed at a series of joint Board of Selectmen/Board of Finance budget workshops. Our goal is to continue to meet your needs and expectations with the highest levels of service, to keep our buildings, parks and roads in good condition and repair, and to keep expenditures low. Due to factors that are not directly in our control, it looks like we may have another tough budget year. The schedule of budget meetings will be posted on the Town website and are always open to the public. I hope you will be able to attend. You will have two opportunities to vote to approve our budgets – first for the Region 4 education budget, a percentage of which is charged to Chester taxpayers, and secondly, the Board of Finance will submit a final town budget which will include the elementary school budget for the approval of residents at a Town Meeting scheduled in May of 2020. Throughout this process, I will continue to work closely with the Boards of Selectmen and Finance and with town departments and commissions to craft an intelligent and responsible budget for our town.