Loudon barely passes budget, delivers a firm ‘no’ on new firetruck

By the time Kelly Bokhan came to Loudon’s town meeting, she felt her wallet was already stretched too thin.

Having weathered the Merrimack Valley School District meeting earlier in March, where voters approved a $51.9 million budget despite efforts to cut it, Bokhan had one more chance to reduce the increase to her taxes. She took it, proposing to reduce Loudon’s spending increase from 7.3% to 5%.

“Unfortunately, because that tax raised, it affects our town and our town budget is now, taxes are going up,” Bokhan said. “It’s kind of like, well, we don’t have any money left in our wallet because the school just took it all.”

Roger Maxfield, a former selectman, urged his neighbors not to conflate the town and the school — they have very different budget structures and revenue streams, he said — and opposed cutting anything at all. 

Loudon has always been fiscally conservative, but others in the crowd said they agreed with Maxfield and were tired of repeated attempts to slash the budget.

“You just can’t cut the budget,” said Curtiss Rude, without the quality of the town’s services taking a hit.

The result was a town almost equally divided. Bokhan’s motion failed by a razor-thin margin, 117-119, in a secret ballot vote. The $7.4 million budget was approved, with an estimated tax impact of $10.17 per $1,000 of assessed property value. For a $400,000 home, that’s $4,068.

Firetruck dumped, again

Affirming last year’s decision, Loudon voters declined to purchase a firetruck to replace the town’s 22-year-old aerial ladder truck, 97-131. 

Fire Chief Tom Blanchette had requested to take $600,000 from a capital reserve fund to buy a used truck, with no tax impact, after he unsuccessfully proposed a $1.7 million bond for a brand-new truck last year.

At the town meeting on Saturday, several residents expressed frustration with the fire department and questioned whether a new truck is really necessary or useful, saying they felt they didn’t know enough about the truck’s current status and the options on the table.

Jeff Green said over his decades in Loudon, he’s watched the fire department “grow and grow and grow,” with each piece of equipment getting “bigger and fancier.” He said he voted against the bond last year because he thought the aerial ladder truck would be too big to fit in people’s driveways.

“Now we want a used truck,” Green said. “We have a used truck. Put the money into that truck. It’s no different.”

Blanchette said that to completely refurbish the one he has, it would cost $900,000 — an option the town hasn’t pursued because it’s too expensive. He added that if voters approved a replacement truck, it could improve the fire department’s audit rating, which directly affects insurance premiums.

Others thought it would still be a smarter investment to buy new rather than get another old one with parts that could be tough to find.

“Buying a used truck is inviting trouble,” said Lisa Laughlin, who’d advocated for the new one last year. “I’m sorry, Chief, I know you got shot down on the new truck, but buying a used truck is just kicking the cost down the road.”

When asked about the results, Blanchette shrugged and said, “voice of the people.”

“I guess we’ll just try to keep maintaining it the best we can with what we’ve got,” Blanchette said, “but with a $50,000 truck maintenance budget for a fleet of 11 vehicles, I don’t know.”

More business on the way?

Town residents approved a commercial and industrial property tax exemption, an incentive designed to attract more businesses to empty lots along the Route 106 corridor. Voters eyed it as a way to raise more tax revenue for the town without dipping further into homeowners’ wallets.

As officials put it, the exemption will delay the full municipal and local school property tax impact by five years for businesses seeking to build, rebuild, modernize or expand within Loudon. The five-year progression will start with a 50% tax discount off the assessed value of the business’s completed development, which then goes down by 10% each year until they pay the full tax.

The town honored several of its residents at town meeting, including Selectman Jeff Miller, who did not run for reelection this year. He served just shy of a decade, and Roger Bilodeau, who won Tuesday’s election 278-253, will fill his seat. The Boston Cane Award, a ceremonial token traditionally given to the oldest resident in town, went to William Peterson, who is 100 years old.

Voters also unanimously adopted a town motto at the request of the local Girl Scout troop: “Loudon, a welcoming community with a big smile.” The girls said they were inspired by a section of flowers along Route 106 that forms a smiley face.

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