Strafford Town Meeting will be held at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, March 6, at the Town House. The annual school district meeting follows at 1 p.m.
Strafford
Selectwoman Toni Pippy said the amount to be raised in taxes to support proposed general fund and highway spending will increase 2 percent to $1.02 million.
Voters will be faced with a $524,300 general fund budget, which is up about 5.9 percent, or $29,000, and a highway budget of $1.17 million, which reflects a roughly 14.6 percent increase, or $149,700.
The board applied surplus and reserve funds to counter those increases. In addition, an uptick in revenues also helped with the offset, including an expected increase in this year’s grand list fueled mostly by a solar project at the Elizabeth Mine, Pippy said.
The current town portion of the tax rate is 67 cents per $100 of assessed value, which equates to a tax bill of $1,675 on a $250,000 home. The 2018 tax rate hasn’t yet been set, but it is expected to remain flat, if not decrease by around 1 cent, Pippy said.
The budget reflects some one-time expenses, including maintenance to the spire atop the Town House.
The first payment for a new fire truck — which will replace an aging engine — is also encompassed in the equipment portion of the highway budget.
“The goal is to keep the tax rate as low as possible, yet try and keep up with the things we need to take care of in town,” Pippy said.
There is only one other article on the warning that voters haven’t seen at a prior meeting, and it pertains to climate change and energy in the state.
Article 10 asserts that Vermont is behind on its renewable energy goal of achieving 90 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2050.
It asks that Strafford urge the state to halt expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure, commit to developing renewable energy for all and ensure the transition is done fairly and equitably, according to the article.
On the school side, voters will be asked to approve a $3.11 million budget, which represents a roughly $42,300 decrease in spending, or 1.3 percent, over current spending.
Because of a shortfall in the state Education Fund and a change in the common level of appraisal for Strafford, the school portion of the tax rate under the budget could have increased by roughly 7.6 percent. However, the School Board used $122,500 from the tuition reserve fund and $7,200 surplus to hold the increase to 2.8 percent, according to the School Directors’ Report.
As a result, the homestead school property tax rate is projected to increase from $1.54 to $1.58. That equates to an increase of $100, or a total bill of $3,950 on a $250,000 home, for those residents not eligible for Vermont’s income–sensitivity program.
“We have controlled everything we can and we have reduced our budget and the tax rate is still going up,” School Board Vice Chairwoman Hilary Linehan said of the process.
Voters also will be asked to put $8,000 in surplus money from the 2016-17 school year into the Tyson Gym maintenance reserve fund.
Glenn Wylie and Jeff Solsaa’s seats are up on the School Board. Both are seeking re-election. Margaret Albee has decided to step down from her term early, so voters also will need to elect a third person to the board.
Stephen Marx and Pippy’s seats are up on the Selectboard. Marx has decided to step down. Pippy is looking to retain her seat.
Voting and nominations are done from the floor.
Jordan Cuddemi can be reached at jcuddemi@vnews.com or 603-727-3248.