HOLLIS – No voters spoke up Wednesday evening during the town budget public hearing at Town Hall, although there were no major proposals to discuss.

In attendance were representatives from the town departments and three students from Bishop Guertin High School, who were there for a class assignment.

The nine proposed warrant articles for the upcoming fiscal year fall mostly in line with those of previous years. They include:

• The town operating budget of $10,054,008, an increase of 1.6 percent from the current budget.

• $100,000 to be appropriated from town surplus funds for the Municipal Buildings and Facilities Expendable Trust Fund.

• $70,000 of town surplus funds for a contingency fund. This fund, Budget Committee Chairman Tom Gehan said, would be used in the event of an unexpected incident.

• $50,000 to be drawn from the Old Home Day Special Revenue Fund. This money is generally pulled from the fund every year and then filled again with money raised during Hollis Old Home Days.

All warrant articles were recommended by the Budget Committee as is.

Robert Mann, the School Board representative for the Budget Committee, commended the Board of Selectmen for crafting a frugal budget.

“I’m impressed that the Board of Selectmen managed to come in $50,000 below the guidance budget,” Mann said.

During deliberation, which is the committee’s last chance to make any changes to the warrant articles, members did debate one aspect of the proposed operating budget, which says that $100,000 of the budget would come from surplus funds.

Committee member Mike Harris argued surplus funds should be used for one-time expenses, and not to offset the taxpayers’ burden, an argument that was echoed by member Christopher Hyde.

“When you mask the fiscal impact, you’re not exposing taxpayers to the real cost,” Hyde said.

Hyde also highlighted the fact that the town spent the last several years building up its surplus budget.

“Now that we’re at our target, we don’t want to go back,” he said.

While several committee members acknowledged those concerns, the operating budget wasn’t amended.

Derek Edry can be reached at 594-1243, dedry@nashuatelegraph.com or @Telegraph_Derek.