BEDFORD – Noting escalating costs, the town council last night sent a resounding message that it wants to be represented on the New Hampshire Retirement System board of trustees.

On a 6-1 vote, the council endorsed a House bill that would increase the size of the board of trustees by two positions. The bulk of the membership is currently comprised of teachers, policemen, firemen and other public employees.

The change would ensure that two of the trustees would be official municipal representatives. One would be appointed from a city or town, the other by the New Hampshire Municipal Association.

"I firmly believe that local municipal governments have to take a strong stand on changing the direction of the N.H. Retirement System," Town Manager Russ Marcoux wrote in a memo to the council. "This is a great start, as local governments are the funding sources of this system who are enduring the bulk on the cost increases."

By July 1, 2007, the rate increases in Bedford will be 8.74 percent for general town employees, 11.84 percent for police officers and 15.92 percent for firemen, according to a budget analysis former Town Manager Keith Hickey prepared for the council last September.

In 2006, retirement expenses for all town employees amounted to $549,678, according to the analysis. This year, Hickey projected the cost to be $626,275. Nearly $50,000 of that increase, according to Hickey, is due to the rate hikes.

Town councilors last night appeared to be strongly supportive of creating the additional trustee positions, with the exception of Paul Roy, who said he thought having more people on the board would be unproductive. Roy also asked why towns could not voice their opinions through the state representative who sits on the board.

But other councilors said that having a person on the board with a municipal perspective would make a difference. Given how much the town is paying into the system, they said it was critical to have a representative.

"To me, we should be trying to get more than two," Councilor Bill Van Anglen said.

In other business, the council said it supported the state plan for an upgrade of the intersection of Route 101, Hardy Road and Jenkins Road. The council also authorized Marcoux to accept $220,000 from Hannaford Brothers, to be used as the town contribution toward the project. Hannaford is planning a store for the intersection.

The meeting was the last one for Councilor Andy Egan, who is stepping down for health reasons. Egan, who sat as the acting chairman for the occasion, said he had had "extreme pleasure in serving this community."

"Had I been able to continue, I would have liked to have been chairman," Egan said.