Grantham selectmen to review budget transfers, software upgrade

Grantham selectmen were set to review encumbrance budget item transfers and hear a presentation on new software at their June 24 meeting, a small agenda with direct stakes for how Town Hall handles money and records. The meeting was posted for 5 p.m. in the Jerry Whitney Memorial Conference Room at Grantham Town Hall, 300 Route 10 South.

The first item, a review of encumbrance budget item transfers, pointed to the kind of accounting decision that determines how already-committed or prior-year funds are carried and tracked. The town did not list dollar amounts on the calendar notice, but the topic signals board oversight of whether money moves cleanly from one budget cycle to the next. For residents, that can shape how clearly town spending is documented and how smoothly departments operate when fiscal-year deadlines tighten.

Todd Hamm was listed to present the software item. Grantham’s staff directory identifies Hamm as Administrative Assistant II in the Selectmen’s Office, which puts the proposal inside the town’s own administrative chain rather than in the hands of an outside vendor representative. The agenda did not spell out what the program would replace or how much it would cost, but a new system in a small town typically affects workflow, recordkeeping, and how quickly staff can answer resident requests.

The June 24 meeting also fit into a regular schedule. Town records say the Board of Selectmen normally meets on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month at 5 p.m. in the same room unless another posting says otherwise. Grantham’s online minutes show the board was already in an active run of budget and policy work through 2026, with selectmen minutes posted throughout the year before the June meeting.

That work included a public budget hearing on Jan. 28, 2026, for FY2027, the fiscal year running from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027. Town Administrator Emily Owens and department heads including Police Chief John Parsons, Fire Chief Justin Hastings, Road Agent Jeff Hastings, Town Clerk and Tax Collector Ken Story, Recreation Director Emily Rinde-Thorsen, Dunbar Free Library Director Dawn Huston and SAU 75 Superintendent Christine Downing were among those tied to that budget process. The hearing also sat alongside warrant articles to rezone the Sawyer Brook Headwaters and Byron Barton lots from Rural Residential to Forest Lands Conservation District, a change aimed at protecting significant natural resources and preserving undeveloped forest lands. The Grantham Conservation Commission unanimously backed those proposals on Dec. 1, 2025, with the Planning Board and selectmen also recommending them.