After attending the online Zoom Grafton County Commissioners’ Meetings every Tuesday morning for the last year and a half, I have come to learn much about County goings-on.
In turn, I feel I must alert Grafton County residents and taxpayers of important upcoming monetary decisions. And you thought Paul Revere died in Boston on May 10, 1818?! His spirit lives on!!!
Let me start with the proposed 2027 Grafton County Budget. I congratulate Grafton County Commissioners Martha McLeod (Chairwoman), District 2, Commissioner Wendy Piper, District 1, and Commissioner Katie Hedberg, District 3, and County Administrator, Julie Libby, for “cracking the whip” thereby cutting next year’s County Budget from 16.78% to 8.78% by requesting Department Heads (Nursing Home, Department of Corrections, County Farm, Administration, County Maintenance, etc.) to only present their respective annual department financial requests based upon “bare needs,” thus discarding “unnecessary wants.”
Based upon those parameters, the 2027 Grafton County Budget dropped to $60,538,968.00, with $33,164,292.00 to be raised by taxes! Grant funding is down!
The Grafton County Delegation Executive Committee, made up of certain Grafton County Representatives, will be meeting on Monday, May 11, 2026 @ 9:00 am – 11:00 am, and a complete DELEGATION MEETING (all Grafton County Representatives) will be held that same day from 11:00 am – 1:00 pm “to set elected official salaries”!
I urge all Grafton County residents & taxpayers to ZOOM-IN by clicking on the County website (grafton-county.com), clicking on the 3 lines in the upper-right corner, and then clicking on “Meeting Schedule.” Scroll down to May 11, 2026, “Executive Committee Meeting,” open & type your name when directed. You’ll be able to “hear” & see the meeting.
The Courthouse is still under discussion with the architect & Commissioner revisions. Presently, they are presenting us a proposed $48,319,843.00, up from $46,018,898.00, and downsizing the building by 697 sq. ft. Taking out a 25-30-year loan (bond) may raise the cost of building another courthouse in No. Haverhill is in the upper 90-million-dollar range! AND, we’re still paying on the jail bond to the tune of another $12 – $16 million. Stay tuned.
Authors’ and Speakers’ opinions are their own and may not represent those of Grok Media, LLC, GraniteGrok.com, its sponsors, readers, authors, or advertisers.
Disagree, agree, Got Something to Say, We Want to Hear It. Comment or submit Op-Eds to steve@granitegrok.com
