Bradford’s Town Meeting and Water and Sewer District Meeting will be held at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, March 7, in the Bradford Academy Auditorium.

 

Bradford, Vt. — Voters can expect a straightforward Town Meeting this year, but some time may be spent discussing a proposed 12.9 percent increase in Bradford’s general fund budget.

This year’s warning includes only the town’s routine business: electing officers, approving the general fund and highway budgets and appropriating funds to various nonprofit organizations. In contrast to years past, no other articles have been added to the warning.

Voters, however, will be faced with sizable increases in both the general fund and highway budgets.

Residents will be asked to approve a $1.3 million general fund budget, a $150,000 increase over last year’s approved spending.

The increases are spread throughout the budget and some are the product of the town “squeezing by” for many years, Selectboard Chairman Ted Unkles said this week.

Among the increases are a slight bump in town employees’ salaries.

“We have a lot of employees who do excellent work and we need to recognize that,” Unkles said. “Without good employees, town government comes to a screeching halt.”

The town also has allocated money for infrastructure improvements, including $22,500 for upgrades at the recycling center. The town plans to pour a concrete slab and bring power to the site so that Casella Waste Systems can install compactors. The bins currently fill up quickly, resulting in Casella needing to haul them away frequently. Casella offered to pay for the improvements, but Unkles said the company wanted a 20-year contract in return, something the town didn’t feel comfortable locking into.

Maintenance work also will be done at the Bradford Academy building and a sound system will be installed in the auditorium, a project that will be supplemented with leftover funds from the 250th anniversary celebration, Unkles said.

Some money also has been allotted for rent payments to potentially move the Bradford Police Department to the Vermont State Police outpost on Route 25. The state and town haven’t settled on what that rent should be, so the $2,500 put in the budget merely is a placeholder at this point, Unkles said.

Residents also will be asked to approve a 5.4 percent increase in highway spending, which is up about $50,000 to $978,755.

Officials budgeted an extra $25,000 for paving projects and made marginal increases to several other line items.

All told, the amount to be raised in taxes is increasing by about $85,000 from 2016’s spending to $1.78 million, a 5 percent increase.

“I’d be lying if I told you there won’t be a tax increase,” Unkles said, calling the proposed increase “modest.”

The tax rate hasn’t yet been set.

The current tax rate for Bradford residents is 71 cents per $100 of assessed value, or about $1,775 annually on a $250,000 home. The tax rate for residents in the village is 75 cents per $100 of assessed value.

The annual Water and Sewer Commission meeting — for residents on the water and sewer checklist — will begin right after Town Meeting ends.

Ratepayers will be asked to approve a $300,000 water budget, which represents a $6,800, or 2.3 percent, increase in approved spending over last year’s. Users also will be asked to approve a sewer budget of $279,500, up about $4,500 in spending, or a 1.7 percent increase.

A separate meeting for Bradford Elementary School will be held at 7:30 p.m. on May 17 at the Bradford Academy Auditorium. The Oxbow High annual meeting will take place at 8 p.m. on March 28 at the high school.

Jordan Cuddemi can be reached at jcuddemi@vnews.com or 603-727-3248.