Bellingham Finance Committee Recommends Twelve Budget Lines Totaling Over $2.4 Million

BELLINGHAM — April 7, 2026 — Bellingham Finance Committee recommends more than $2.4 million in departmental budgets for fiscal year 2027. The six-member panel voted 6-0 on each of twelve individual budget lines at its April 7 public hearing, including a $739,485 library appropriation tied to succession planning ahead of the library director's anticipated retirement, a $446,337 public buildings maintenance budget complicated by unresolved questions about the department head's benefit eligibility, and $118,500 for the town's KP Law retainer — a figure staff defended as a bargain, estimating effective hourly rates around $600. The Board of Health line of $138,150 prompted pointed questions after staff disclosed a revolving fund carrying a $189,000 balance against a $50,000 annual expenditure cap; one member called it "an issue that the auditor should bring up at the end of the year." The committee must finalize all DPW items and capital articles by April 27, with the Finance Committee report due to the printer May 1 ahead of Annual Town Meeting.