Voters from Dartmouth Fire District 2 approved all 10 requests from the district leadership at its annual meeting Monday night.

The small group agreed to the $640,120 budget, as well as renovations to the fire station's ventilation system and the construction of an above-ground fuel depot to replace an underground tank.

“It’s very costly to have an underground tank. There’s annual fees that come with them, and the big part is the insurance,” said Chief Timothy Andre.

He added that the current underground fuel tanks require a 15-minute inspection that costs $1,000 annually. An amount of $26,700 was taken from the Building Account with an additional $800 from free-floating income to finance the construction of the new tank.

This year also marked a concerted effort to make the warrant, or the list of items, more thorough. Interim clerk and treasurer Joan Harwood had itemized more of the budget in an attempt to better track spending.

“What you’re seeing here with this warrant is about 18 months of study and revision and a lot of hard work on the part of our finance person in terms of taking this district out of the mode in which it was operating and into the mode in which it’s supposed to be operating,” said Prudential Committee member Bernard Giroux.

This increased effort to track where money is going will help the district operate within its parameters and keep expenses down, he said.

Harwood said this process involved “revamping” the entire system.

“We’re trying to get a detailed accounting system,” said Harwood. “If a taxpayer asks why something is changing, they’ll know exactly why.”

Other items that passed include:

• $3,025 to compensate district officials.
• $92,105 to compensate the fire chief, clerk, treasurer and an independent contractor to oversee finances.
• $197,731 to fund General Expense accounts.
• $114,459.32 to compensate district employees.
• $72,800 to fund operational expenses.
• $160,000 to appropriate money for the debt owed on the district’s “Renovation/Construction” loan, which came from past construction at the fire station.

The district will also file with the Legislature a Home Rule Petition to make both the treasurer and the fire chief of the district appointed positions by the Prudential Committee.

District 2 covers the southwest portion of town.