$23.5 million proposed budget for Merrimack includes increases in health insurance, retirement

MERRIMACK – Merrimack town councilors approved a proposed budget of about $23.5 million, a hair above the first draft proposed by town officials at the start of the budgeting season. The proposed budget has a general fund appropriation of $23,532,752, which would mean a $5.25 per $1,000 of assessed value tax rate. That, of course, doesn’t include any warrant articles passed by voters at Town Meeting in April. Finance director Paul Micali said the proposed budget is a mere $2,000 more than what town manager Eileen Cabanel originally presented to the council. He said the ambulance capital reserve fund, which was established in 1982, needs a $12,000 contribution each year to stay on schedule.