Finance Board Praises Police, Keeps Budget Proposal Intact

Wednesday night, the Waterford Board of Finance approved a $5.2 million budget for the Waterford Police Department for the 2013-14 fiscal year.

The $5.2 million total is a 4.16 percent increase over this year’s $4.99 million allotment, and represented one of the largest increases in the municipal budget. Still, the Board of Finance made no cuts to the proposal, with several members praising the good work of the police department.

“Based on the comments tonight, despite a 4.16 percent increase, it sounds like you might be worth it,” Board of Finance Chairman Ron Fedor told Police Chief Murray Pendleton.

The increases in the budget were mostly from salary increases and the department leasing new laptops for all the police cruisers. The Board of Finance, which has made cuts as small as $50 in other budgets, did not cut a dime from the proposal. Pendleton said he appreciated the support from the board, saying this is a time where “we need to show we are stable."

The police department originally submitted a $5.3 million budget to the Board of Selectmen, a 6.32 percent increase over this year’s total, but the selectmen agreed it was too high. The police later came back with the $5.2 million total.

The proposal still needs to be approved by the Representative Town Meeting.