Town Manager Barry Tibbetts is proposing a flat town budget for 2021-22, with an increase of only one-third of a percent over current spending.

The $24.5 million proposed budget is a .033% increase over the 2020-21 budget of $24.4 million.

Tibbetts said he can’t finalize the property tax rate without the school budget in hand – this year’s school budget is about $23.2 million – but if school spending remains the same, he expects the total tax rate to increase by 2 cents to account for an increase in the county budget. The county assessment of $1.57 million has increased 3.1% over this year’s allocation of $1.52 million.

If the 2021-22 tax rate is approved at $15.02, the owner of a $250,000 home in Windham could expect to pay $3,755 in taxes, a $5 increase from this fiscal year.

Revenues are expected to increase by $469,000 to about $15 million, said Tibbetts, who noted in a memo to the Town Council on March 9 that the town is in the second year of a two-year process to build reserves from year-to-year revenue increases for “future unexpected variances in the economy/market.”

“This is a conservative approach which will allow for better budgetary management in the long term,” Tibbetts wrote.

The manager’s budget proposes adding an assistant manager to the town staff along with two fire/emergency medical services personnel. Tibbetts is also advocating for a number of capital improvement projects, including $1.1 million for two plow trucks, a street sweeper, a snow/mower, a pickup truck and rescue equipment.

Included as well is $550,000 to finalize the purchase of Engine 7 for the fire/rescue department and $240,000 to finish the parking lot at Lowell Preserve and playground. The manager is also proposing $2.6 million for paving projects and using recreation impact fees to bond a $1.35 million project for three new baseball/softball diamonds at Manchester School.

The Police Department budget of $3.35 million is a 3% increase from the $3.25 million budget for 2020-21, most of which is driven by salary increases.

The Fire/Rescue Department budget will increase by 5.8% to just over $2.4 million from $2.23 million, including the cost for the two additional fire/EMS personnel to add to the 20-person, full-time roster of employees.