Blandford Budget Review Raises Questions About Cemetery Trust Account Payments

BLANDFORD — January 12, 2026 — Blandford budget session surfaces cemetery trust accounting gaps and contractor change. A January 12 budget review meeting examined the Cemetery Commission's proposed FY27 spending, centered on a transition from LBS Property Management to contractor Ryan Bangle at an estimated $18,600 to $21,200 annually for mowing and hedge trimming. Financial staff identified that LBS invoices may have been incorrectly charged to taxpayer-funded accounts rather than the town's cemetery trust funds, including the Susan Tiffany Trust, which holds $85,780.18 in accumulated interest after being established in 1961 and earned $19,598.39 in FY25 alone. A separate concern was raised about whether cash payments collected for burial plot openings by the current caretaker have been posted to the revenue ledger. Staff was directed to obtain a full trust-by-trust accounting and reconcile missing FY26 cemetery revenue before the next session; no formal votes were taken. The Board of Health, Recreation Committee, and Council on Aging also presented level-funding or modest-increase requests, with the Recreation Committee's sole active member requesting a $500 bump in her memorial flags line to bring the total appropriation to $5,500.