BRATTLEBORO — If Representative Town Meeting votes in the affirmative, the human services line item in the proposed Fiscal Year 2020 budget will tick upward.
At the Jan. 8 special Selectboard meeting, Town Manager Peter B. Elwell presented the human services budget, which came from recommendations made by the town's Human Services Committee.
“As is usual [...] most of the recommendations are similar to last year's” organizations and portion of the funding, Elwell said. Last year's total was $146,000. This year's request is for $147,300.
Although this portion of the budget didn't need approval by the Selectboard, most members agreed the increase is a good idea.
“I have no issue with the slight increase,” said Selectboard Vice-Chair Brandie Starr. “It's really for [RTM] to hash out.”
Selectboard member Tim Wessel pointed out the Human Services Committee does hard work and they do it well.
Selectboard Chair Kate O'Connor noted two organizations were missing from the human services budget: the Visiting Nurses of VT & NH, and KidsPlayce.
That's because they were late with their applications, Elwell said, and the Human Services Committee turned them down because of an abundance of applications they received on time.
After representatives from both organizations asked for another chance, the Selectboard agreed to put their requests on a separate item on the RTM warning.