The annual Town Meeting will be on Tuesday, May 3, at the high school at 7:30 p.m. It is important for all to attend. Not only will the meeting vote on the date of the budget referendum, the Town Meeting has the authority to take certain actions affecting the budget and how it is presented.
- The Town Meeting can decide whether the vote shall be on one figure for the total Town Budget or to split the vote into two amounts, one for the Town and one for the Education Budget.
- Should there be 4 percent or more (about 400) registered voters in attendance, the Meeting may amend the budget prior to going to referendum. The meeting may only lower the amount.
The purpose of the meeting is to present the Board of Finance’s recommended budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2011. There will be a brief presentation on the budget. There will be an opportunity to ask questions and I am sure, as in prior years, people may take the opportunity to voice their support or opposition to the budget.
Here is an updated table outlining the major components of the Board of Finance’s budget proposal for 2012.
Board of Finance Proposal for 2012 Budget
Actual 2010 Budget 2011 BOF Budget Proposal 2012 Chg Vs 2011 % Chg Town Operations 12,422,413 13,271,013 14,055,678 784,665 5.9 Capital 771,815 969,578 902,943 -66,635 -6.9 Debt 4,426,823 4,121,563 4,205,379 83,816 2.0 Town Total 17,621,051 18,362,154 19,164,000 801,846 4.4 Education 33,940,184 35,419,378 36,300,000 880,622 2.5 Grand Total 51,561,235 53,781,532 55,464,000 1,682,468 3.1Though not set until after the budget is approved, the Board of Finance has indicated this spending plan will result in a tax increase of about 2.9 percent or about $175 on a home with the median assessed value (approximately $305,000).
The recommendation above is not significantly different than the proposal that was presented at the two public hearings. I have previously discussed the reasons for the increase in the town spending so I won’t bore you a second time. They have to do with insurance and other personnel costs, as well as increases in utilities. If you have questions or feedback, please contact me or any one of the members of the Board of Finance, better to be informed than to vote on something you do not understand or worse yet to not vote at all.
I will see you Tuesday at the Town Meeting!
Thanks for reading,
Howard
