WATERVILLE VALLEY, NH – The Waterville Valley Select Board convened a special meeting on March 17, 2026, to continue work on the town’s 2026 operating budget, as directed by the recent Town Meeting. The Board’s mandate is to hold the operating budget to $7 million — a $306,000 increase over the approved 2025 budget of $6,694,000, or 4.6%.
The Board acknowledged upfront that this target presents significant challenges. Cost increases driven by labor shortages, debt service payments, insurance premium increases, and general inflation all exceed the 4.6% cap. A key constraint is a $270,000 increase in debt service payments for 2026, which consumes most of the allowed increase and leaves only $36,000 for all other operating budget lines — effectively a flat budget for most expenses. The Board also noted that under the state-mandated gross budgeting system, estimated revenues cannot be used to offset expense lines when crafting the budget in March, placing additional pressure on the numbers (link).
Personnel and Recruitment
The Board identified personnel as the largest budget driver and expressed strong reluctance to cut positions that directly support essential services.
The proposed 2026 budget had included three-quarter-year funding for three vacant positions: one in the Department of Public Works (DPW), one solid waste laborer, and two in the Wastewater Treatment Facility. Funding all three at three-quarter-year levels was estimated at approximately $300,000 (including benefits). The Board discussed various partial-year funding scenarios to reduce costs while preserving the ability to hire if candidates become available (link).
The Director of Municipal Utilities described the acute difficulty of recruiting qualified wastewater operators. With no standardized pay scale across the state, a median industry age of 63, and strict experience requirements — a minimum of four years in the field plus two years of post-secondary education just to hold the backup operator license — attracting candidates to a remote location is extremely challenging. The situation is expected to worsen as the new Wastewater Treatment Facility will require the highest operator certification level in the state. The Board noted that some wastewater plants in northern New England cannot even find contract operations firms willing to serve them (link).
The recruitment budget line was reduced from $50,000 to $30,000. This line covers job advertising, potential sign-on bonuses, and relocation assistance — tools the Board considers essential given that wastewater positions have gone unfilled for approximately two years (link).
The merit pay pool was reduced from $36,500 to $15,000. The Board emphasized that any awards from this pool should be directed toward lower-level employees rather than department directors, and noted the particular importance of recognizing staff who went above and beyond following the death of the former Town Manager in September 2025 (link).
Proposed increases to elected official stipends and the Town Clerk’s stipend — totaling approximately $1,300 — were rolled back to 2025 levels (link).
Departmental and Discretionary Spending Cuts
Department heads had previously identified approximately $86,400 in reductions across parts, supplies, and maintenance line items. The Board turned next to what it characterized as discretionary spending.
The $10,000 solid waste equipment repair line was removed from the operating budget. The Board noted that the capital reserve fund for the solid waste truck — built to approximately $50,000 following the 2026 Town Meeting vote — could be drawn upon for emergency repairs, even though the long-term intent of that fund is truck replacement (link).
The community education line in the Department of Public Safety budget — which funds events including Coffee with a Cop, National Night Out, the Citizens Academy, and the Fishing Derby — was proposed to be set to zero, saving approximately $1,600 (link).
The Conservation Commission consulting budget was reduced from $2,000 to $1,000. The Board noted that the commission’s major current project — Snow’s Brook sediment remediation — is separately funded through the $55,000 warrant article approved at Town Meeting (link).
The Library General fund was reduced from $5,000 to $2,500 (link).
The Recreation Director outlined approximately $23,000 in parks budget reductions, including: eliminating porta-potties at Packard’s Field (in place since the COVID-era reopening), zeroing out the Winter Lights program, removing a planned kiosk at the Waterville Valley Recreation Area, dropping snow tires for the department van, eliminating community garden maintenance, and canceling camp field trips (link).
The “Casting for Kirby” fishing derby was discussed but not cut. The event carries an estimated budget of approximately $6,000, which includes fish stocking, prizes, entertainment, and t-shirts, though donations help offset costs. The Board noted it would revisit the item (link).
At the close of the Board’s working session, cumulative reductions from the proposed 2026 budget were estimated at approximately $307,000 — close to the target, but with some items still unresolved and the personnel scenario still being refined.
Revenue and Long-Term Operational Changes
The Board discussed several revenue and structural changes intended to reduce budget pressure in future years rather than the current cycle.
The possibility of discontinuing commercial trash pickup was raised. Under state law, the town is required to provide solid waste services to residents but not to commercial enterprises. Commercial pickup currently occupies approximately two to two-and-a-half days per week for two DPW employees, with roughly 72 dumpsters in town. Commercial tipping fees generate approximately $30,000 annually. Eliminating commercial pickup would not produce immediate budget savings, but could reduce truck wear, dumpster maintenance, and overtime costs over time, while freeing staff for other responsibilities (link).
The Board also discussed the impending closure of the Bethlehem landfill in spring 2027, which will require a wholesale change to the town’s solid waste disposal system. The current single-truck model was acknowledged to be unsustainable, and the Municipal Solid Waste Committee is actively working on alternatives. The Board noted that the state does not permit unattended dumpsters, which limits certain self-service options (link).
Increasing sewer fees to eliminate an estimated $160,000 tax subsidy was discussed as a way to align with standard municipal practice and reduce general taxation pressure in future budgets. The Board noted that water fees currently cover their costs, but sewer fees fall short by approximately $160,000. Shifting those costs to sewer fees would be revenue-neutral for most property owners — who currently pay the subsidy through taxes — but would remove that amount from the operating budget in future years (link).
The Recreation Director indicated plans to bring proposed fee increases to the Select Board at its regular meeting the following day. Proposed changes include raising guest rates by 20% or more while increasing taxpayer rates by a lesser amount, and potentially introducing modest fees for services — such as pickleball and gym use — currently provided to taxpayers at no direct charge. The Board acknowledged the tension between generating revenue and pricing out residents (link).
The Board expressed strong reluctance to reduce the contingency fund from its current $100,000 level, noting that it represents less than 2% of the total budget and that the town has drawn on it for significant unanticipated expenses in past years. The Board indicated it would revisit the contingency line only if the remaining gap could not otherwise be closed (link).
Public Comment
During a public comment period held after the working session, several residents and a town employee raised concerns and suggestions.
Multiple residents asked about the feasibility of funding cut programs — including fireworks, the Citizens Academy, Kids’ Night Out, and National Night Out — through donations, a community foundation, or a friends-of-the-recreation-department nonprofit. The Board and staff explained the accounting constraints: donations must flow through the town budget as both revenue and expenditure, and any town-funded expenditure counts against the $7 million cap. A formal nonprofit could accept donations independently, but creating one requires establishing a legal entity, filing tax returns, and other administrative overhead (link).
A representative of the Rey Center addressed the Board, asking it to reconsider zeroing out the organization’s town grant. The representative noted that the Rey Center’s board had already voluntarily proposed a 10% reduction — not a full elimination — and described the preschool program’s role in attracting young families to the valley. Of approximately 30 children currently enrolled through fifth grade at the Waterville Valley Elementary School, 16 are siblings of or have gone through the Rey Center preschool. The representative emphasized that without town support, the Rey Center cannot operate and the preschool will cease to function (link).
Several residents questioned the overall growth of the town budget since 2018–2019 and suggested re-examining staffing levels and service hours in light of a declining post-COVID seasonal population. Specific suggestions included revisiting whether 24/7 multi-person Department of Public Safety staffing is still necessary and whether Town Hall needs to operate five days a week (link).
A town employee spoke directly to the difficulty of attracting workers to Waterville Valley, describing it as an “island” where housing costs make it impossible for working people to live locally. The employee pushed back on suggestions to introduce employee health insurance cost-sharing, arguing that competing municipalities already offer 100% employer-paid benefits closer to where potential employees live, and that reducing benefits would accelerate staff departures rather than generating savings (link).
The Board acknowledged all of these concerns and reiterated that the current budget process is constrained by both the Town Meeting directive and a March 30 deadline to submit finalized figures to the state Department of Revenue Administration. Board members indicated that a comprehensive review of staffing levels, operational structure, and service delivery will be a top priority for the incoming Town Manager once they are in place (link).
The Interim Town Manager will rework the budget figures based on the day’s discussions. The Board planned to continue budget deliberations at its regular meeting the following day.