Chester board approves budget and Town Meeting warning Hance explains response to questions of deficits

By Shawn Cunningham
© 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC

At last Wednesday’s meeting, the Chester Select Board finalized the March Town Meeting warning and the budget it will put before the voters on Monday, March 2. The board also heard from Town Manager Julie Hance regarding the question of budget deficits for the years 2024 and 2025.

Hance said she wanted to “put on the record and share come clarity around the budget deficit discussions we’ve been having.” She said that when the town closed its books on 2024, its internal budget numbers did not reflect a deficit. The results of the annual audit, which she received in June 2025, indicated that there were no problems. However, Hance noted that she did not take the time to review the audit, and that was her error.

In October 2025, as she was gathering information from the audit for a bond bank application, she saw the deficit. Hance also said she noticed a number of errors in the audit –including double entries in several funds — and mentioned them to the auditors. The auditors now will be looking into those in February when they conduct the 2025 budget audit.

Hance said she had not brought the issue to the board yet because she had previously worked in the legal sector, where you gather all the answers before bringing an issue forward. Hance has maintained that she doesn’t believe there is a 2024 deficit and that a 2025 deficit — which Hance has estimated at $350,000 — will be substantially less than that when all of the payments from budget lines like the ambulance service are in.

Finalizing the budget

Hance then walked the board through cuts and other adjustments she and the town’s department heads had made since the Jan. 7 meeting resulting in a 6 percent increase over last year. The board had discussed a reserve fund for such overages in the past and looked at adding $70,000 to begin building that fund. After more discussion they settled on $40,000, which would represent a 7.12 percent increase over last year’s budget. The board approved the budget, which Chester residents will have the chance to vote on from the floor at the Monday, March 2 meeting. The 2026 budget which will be voted from the floor at the March 2 Town Meeting can be seen here.

Then, after a brief review, the board also approved the Town Meeting warning, which will include the article instituting a 1 percent local option sales tax on rooms and meals and alcohol consumed on premises. The board set a 10-year sunset for the tax, which is expected to raise approximately $60,000 to be used by the town’s Housing Commission to spur and support affordable housing. The 2026 Town Meeting Warning can be seen here.