By STEVEN JUPITER
BRANDON—The Brandon Selectboard convened on Monday night for the first of several public workshops in its budget-crafting process for Fiscal Year 2026-2027, which will begin on July 1, 2026. Town Manager Seth Hopkins and Deputy Town Manager Bill Moore were also in attendance.
There will be no official Budget Committee to advise the Selectboard this year, as it was discovered recently that the town’s process for appointing members to the Committee was not in keeping with current Vermont law.
Under current statutes, voters must decide whether to have an advisory Budget Committee. If they vote yes, they must then vote whether to allow the Selectboard to appoint the committee members or to vote for the members themselves. Brandon voters will make these choices at Town Meeting in March 2026. In previous years, the Selectboard appointed five members to the Committee without authorization from voters.
This initial workshop was intended to give the Selectboard a chance to review the FY2025 budget, which ended on June 30, and to begin discussions with town department heads about the budgetary needs of their respective departments before the Board begins discussing specific dollar allocations.
On Monday, the Board heard from Police Chief David Kachajian, Highway Chief Jeremy Disorda, and Rec Department Director and Community Development Officer Bill Moore.
Police Department
Chief Kachajian gave a brief overview of the Brandon Police Department (BPD), noting that the department began FY25 fully staffed with 7 officers but 5 of those officers resigned by January. BPD now has two full-time officers (including the Chief) and one part-time officer, a new hire named Mikayla Cochrane (previously Fontana). Cochrane is a Level II officer, which limits the severity of cases she is permitted to investigate. But Cochrane plans to attend the Police Academy to receive her Level III certification, which will allow her to complete all police duties.
Kachajian also noted that recruitment of new officers has been a slow process because the pool of applicants has diminished in recent years.
“People just don’t want to do this job anymore,” he said. He added that he preferred to wait for quality candidates than simply to fill positions. In response to questions about hiring incentives like sign-on bonuses, Kachajian stated that he hasn’t seen those tactics achieve much success in other departments and he’d prefer not to spend that money on uncertain outcomes. Moreover, Brandon’s pay scale is now among the highest in Rutland County.
The Chief said that he did not anticipate needing any increases in his department’s budget for FY27, especially since the department was operating with fewer officers.
Board member Brian Coolidge noted that the overtime expenses for FY25 (which ended on June 30) had gone significantly over budget because of a failed attempt to provide 24/7 on-duty coverage with 7 officers.
Chief Kachajian replied that the amount of the overage was on track with what would have been spent on on-call coverage for the whole year.
“Law enforcement is expensive everywhere,” he said.
Finally, the Chief noted that the Vermont State Police, which has been providing coverage at night and on weekends during BPD’s staffing shortage, had been excellent.
Highway Department
Highway Chief Jeremy Disorda told the Board that FY24 and FY25 had been good for his department. They had been fully staffed, having filled positions when they became vacant. He also noted that the department had handled projects on Union Street, North Street, Town Farm Road, Carver Street, Birch Hill Road, Country Club Road, and Long Swamp Road.
He told the Board that the department would need to budget for a new tandem truck, a new barn, and a paving project on Wheeler Road in the upcoming fiscal year.
“We should be in good shape,” he said. “We may need to call in backup if we get a lot of snow this winter, but otherwise we’re in good shape.”
Board member Jeff Haylon asked if the new arrangement with Goshen was working out. Brandon’s Highway Department recently agreed to loan certain equipment and personnel to Goshen for projects for which Goshen lacked capacity, such as grading.
Mr. Disorda said the arrangement had been going well and had not caused undue strain on Brandon. He added that his department had spent about 20 hours on grading in Goshen and would need to do one more round in October or November.
Town Manager Seth Hopkins initiated a discussion about selling the Highway Department’s backhoe and excavator in order to purchase a better excavator. Mr. Disorda noted that the department hadn’t used the backhoe very much this year and that the sale of both pieces of equipment could provide the department with an even better excavator. The current excavator is a 1999 model “in beautiful shape” that was purchased 2.5 years ago from a local resident.
Rec Department and Community Development
Deputy Town Manager Bill Moore donned his Rec Department and Community Development hats to offer the Board overviews of those departments, which he also supervises.
Mr. Moore noted that the Rec Department lost its Assistant Rec Director, Colleen Wright, in the last fiscal year. However, the Department and Ms. Wright, who now runs her own events company, have worked out an “amicable” arrangement as to who is responsible for which public events going forward.
The Rec Department has hired a new part-time employee, who is handling a greater share of the department’s workload, according to Mr. Moore.
Mr. Moore noted as well that the expansion of the Rec Department to include supervision of town parks that host programming (Estabrook & Seminary Hill, for example) will affect the budget for FY27. He also stated that the playground equipment on Seminary Hill might need to be replaced soon, as it approaches 20 years of use.
In response to questions from Board member Ralph Ethier, Mr. Moore stated that the Rec Department does charge non-residents extra for programs but if the Board would like to seek appropriations from other towns, it would be best for those requests to come directly from the Brandon Selectboard itself.
Town Administration
Town Manager Seth Hopkins noted that the town finished FY25 with a 3% surplus, which he stated was not the result of the loss of police personnel but rather the efficiency of town employees.
“We have employees who care a lot about what they spend,” he said. “It’s not just me being cheap.”
This surplus comes after a year or two of vocal discontent in Brandon over budget hikes and tax increases.
“We’re stable and in a good position,” said Hopkins.
Five-year Capital Plan
In response to ongoing pressure from town residents, Mr. Hopkins prepared a draft of a “Capital Program” and “FY27-FY31 Capital Plan.” The purpose of the document was to give the Selectboard, and town residents, a longer-term view of capital needs and expenditures for the next five years.
The document is available in the Selectboard materials for 9/15 on the town website.
Mr. Hopkins called the creation of the document “a good exercise” and stated that it will help the Board “make priorities” when deciding how to budget for upcoming expenses.
He noted that the final payment on the town’s bond for Segment 6 will be paid at the end of 2026 (during FY27) and that the town could then borrow money for the construction of a new barn for the highway department without increasing residents’ tax burdens if the payments remained consistent with the bond for Segment 6.
If the Board chooses to propose this new borrowing to the town, it will do so at Town Meeting in March 2026.
Potential purchase of EV for Brandon Police
Mr. Hopkins asked the Board to consider waiving the town’s purchasing policy to allow him to investigate the potential purchase of an electric Ford F150 to replace the Brandon Police’s current gas-powered F150.
The Department currently has 4 vehicles: a 2016 Ford Explorer, a 2020 Ford F150, a 2022 Ford Explorer SUV, and a 2023 Dodge Charger. The Charger is a recent purchase and will replace the 2016 Explorer, which is slated to be sold at auction.
The proposed purchase of an electric vehicle for the Police Department sparked controversy two years ago, but Mr. Hopkins asked the Board to consider it again. The money that the Department had budgeted for payroll could be used for the purchase, as would the proceeds from the sale of the 2016 Explorer. Additionally, there are rebates available from the federal and state governments for the purchase.
Board members Brian Coolidge and Ralph Ethier expressed skepticism about the plan, but the Board authorized Mr. Hopkins to investigate and present options for consideration at the Board’s next regular meeting on Monday, Sept. 22. The Board would have to decide at that meeting whether to go ahead with the purchase in order to qualify for the federal rebate of $7,500.
The next public budget workshop will be held at 7 p.m. in the downstairs meeting room at the Brandon Town Hall.
