Oakham Select Board Sets Warrant Articles, Launches FY2026 Budget Request Process

OAKHAM — January 3, 2025 — Oakham's Select Board approved a year's worth of backlogged meeting minutes and outlined warrant articles for an upcoming special town meeting at a Friday morning session. The board agreed to seek restoration of mid-year cuts for four departments — $6,000 for Police Department training, $4,000 for Fire Department training, $2,500 and $1,500 respectively for Town Clerk election accounts, and a $15,000 assessors' revaluation stabilization transfer — and discussed consolidating the first three into a single article. A road acceptance article remained unresolved pending input from town counsel and the Planning Board, with a January 13 posting deadline forcing a decision at or before the board's January 6 meeting. Town accountant Lori joined by telephone and agreed to reformat the department budget spreadsheet and distribute FY2026 request forms to all departments, with a January 31 return deadline — roughly a month later than the board's preferred start. "The budget technically belongs to finance until it's turned over to the selectman," the accountant noted, clarifying why the Finance Committee had historically sent the forms.