GOSHEN — Voters will be asked to approve a $3,669,315 budget and numerous capital and community preservation items when they assemble Saturday for Town Meeting.

The spending plan is up by $246,519 or 7.46% over the current year, with much of the increase seen in salary line items and increased hours for municipal employees.

“We have recommended taking additional steps in our multi-year effort to align town stipends, salaries and wages, which have been significantly below market and those of our neighboring communities,” the Finance Committee states in its report.

Inflationary pressures, particularly in the highway department, and a $9,000 boost in capital stabilization funds add to the municipal budget’s bottom line. A $100,000 chunk of the increase comes from the first payment on the broadband loan.

School expenses are up by 1.5%, with higher expenses offset by an $11,300 drop in the Hampshire Regional assessment.

Municipal expenses total $1,570,592, or 43% of the total, and school expenses add up to $2,098,893. The budget relies on a tax levy of $3,158,162.

Among the articles on the Town Meeting warrant are requests for transfers from the capital stabilization account for drainage repairs at the town offices ($60,000), a down payment on a new pumper truck for the Fire Department ($60,000), and purchase of a Chevy Silverado plow truck ($157,550). The town is also seeking authority to borrow $470,000 for the 2024 Freightliner tanker/pumper truck.

The Community Preservation Committee is recommending a $108,450 appropriation from the CPA for the first phase of renovations to the Williams-Boltwood House, and $200,000 for funding the Re-Imagine Goshen Center Project. The remaining funds for the project, estimated to cost $300,000, are expected to come from a $50,000 state grant and $50,000 from fundraising.

The project proposes renovations to Memorial Park, including removal of the tennis courts and installation of a pavilion, a green with stone walls and a patio with café tables. Voters will also be asked in a nonbinding vote if they support removal of the tennis courts.

Transfers from free cash are requested for a cell tower stabilization account, to be funded with $29,300 received from the dissolution of the Hampshire Council of Governments, and a broadband stabilization account, with $117,437 from subscriber fees. The town also seeks approval for transferring more than $600,000 into the capital stabilization account.

Town Administrator Dawn Scaparotti said the town had a much larger pool of free cash this year because approximately $185,000 in broadband subscriber fees was deposited in the general fund.

The town also sold some property that went into foreclosure, Scaparotti said.

Officials are looking to shore up capital accounts to minimize the need for borrowing on capital projects.

“We have some pretty hefty expenses coming up,” she said, citing plans for a new highway garage.

Saturday’s Town Meeting gets underway at 9:30 a.m. at the John James Memorial Town Hall. The town election is scheduled for June 3.

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