Story · Select Board
Paramedic service trust fund
The chair updated the board on ALS (advanced life support, paramedic) services. The proposed membership fee would start at $15,000 in 2027 and rise each year to about $81,244 in Year 5. The per-call fee would rise from $115 to $250. The Town has about $37,400 in its ALS warrant article fund, and a donor has given nearly $28,000 toward ALS costs. More information and financial charts will come during the budget process, and ALS funding will be discussed again in budget season.
How it happened
Feb 3 · MinutesFirst mention
The town proposed adding $10,000 to the Advanced Life Support (paramedic) Municipal Intercept Program Expendable Trust Fund from the 2025 unassigned fund balance, with no tax money. The chair said Exeter Hospital ended its paramedic service on short notice, so the town joined a regional service based in Plaistow. The town did not pay for this service for 30 years but now must. In 2025, $25,000 went into the fund, and a local donor covered the town's cost for two years, totaling $26,000. The addition would bring the fund over $61,000. The town takes on full cost in 2027. The fee may change from a flat fee to $600-$800 per call. A $1 placeholder line was added to the operating budget to prepare for moving the cost to taxes. A resident asked how much the fund should hold; the chair said it depends on how payment changes and on state and local funding. The Select Board recommended it 3-0.
Moved to the ballot as written. All in favor.
Aug 25 · Minutes
The Cemetery Trustees proposed studying a green-burial section inside the existing Route 108 cemetery, open only to Newfields residents. Green burials would not allow embalming, permanent outer burial containers, or conventional modern caskets. They would use biodegradable containers, and families would still work with a funeral service. The Trustees checked state law and talked with the Kensington Cemetery Trustees. They will keep researching containers, urns, cremated remains, upkeep and operating limits. No firm timeline was set, but the research would take more than a month before they return to the Board.
Sep 15 · Minutes
The chair updated the board on ALS (advanced life support, paramedic) services. The proposed membership fee would start at $15,000 in 2027 and rise each year to about $81,244 in Year 5. The per-call fee would rise from $115 to $250. The Town has about $37,400 in its ALS warrant article fund, and a donor has given nearly $28,000 toward ALS costs. More information and financial charts will come during the budget process, and ALS funding will be discussed again in budget season.