WEATHERSFIELD — Residents rejected the majority of spending articles, including both the town and School District operating budgets, during Australian ballot voting on Town Meeting Day.
Voters overwhelmingly defeated the proposed $9.95 million school budget by a vote of 440 to 268. The spending plan was up about 11% compared to the budget passed last year.
They also turned back the proposed $2.05 million town operating budget — of which $1.66 million was to be raised by property taxes — by a similar vote of 450 to 257.
By a tally of 362 to 346, residents also narrowly voted down the $1.31 million highway budget, of which $1.08 million was to be raised by property taxes.
“I think the results clearly reflect the broad concern of affordability,” August Murray, chairman of the town’s budget advisory committee, wrote in an email on Wednesday. “The votes yesterday suggest that residents want budgets that are more closely aligned with what taxpayers can afford.”
The Weathersfield School District’s roughly $1 million budget increase was attributed to health insurance and special education costs, which are mostly beyond the district’s control, said John Arrison, who was reelected to a one-year term on the School Board.
“That’s federal and state mandates. We don’t have any choice,” Arrison said in a phone interview. “I understand that’s not sustainable. Eventually you hit a tipping point where voters get out of their house and show up at the polls.”
The proposed municipal town general fund budget represented a 4% increase from the budget approved last year, and the proposed highway fund increased 2% from the previous year, Weathersfield Town Manager Brandon Gulnick said.
If all money articles had passed, including four capital reserve fund allocations and seven contributions to social service agencies, the municipal tax rate was expected to increase by 24.23%.
“The largest contributors to that projection were the proposed capital funding initiatives designed to begin building reserves for major infrastructure and equipment replacement,” Gulnick wrote in an email.
Voters defeated three of the four capital reserve fund articles, including $292,000 for the Highway Motorized Equipment Reserve Fund; $100,000 for the Fire Apparatus Reserve Fund; and $9,500 for the Technology Replacement Reserve Fund.
Residents did, however, approve $10,000 for the Highway Capital Maintenance and Improvements Reserve Fund to put toward replacing a culvert on Bowen Hill.
“The capital plan was designed with the best interest of the town in mind,” said Mike Todd, a longtime Selectboard member.
The board proposed the capital reserve funds so that the town could rely on them to pay for equipment instead of borrowing through bonds.
“Not only are we lowering the costs by eliminating interest, we are also potentially reducing the purchase cost right out of the gate through negotiating power,” Todd said.
A few items did win voters’ support. They approved $445,500 to operate the town’s solid waste management facility, which is funded by permit fees that are included in tax bills, in addition to punch tickets that residents have to pay for separately based on usage.
By a six-vote margin, they also agreed to put $20,000 in the Parks and Recreation Reserve Fund for the Hoisington Field Master Plan.
Voters supported four of the seven social service agencies requesting town funding: Healthcare and Rehabilitative Services (HCRS) for $2,700; Southeastern Vermont Community Action (SEVCA) for $1,500; $750 for the Vermont Association of the Blind; and $10,500 for the Visiting Nurse Association for Vt and NH.
They voted against sending $1,000 each to the Thrive Thrift Store and Community Resource Center, the Friends of the Meeting House, and Volunteers in Action.
“In terms of the articles passed and failed, Weathersfield voters clearly outlined their current priorities by approving several community and quality of life articles, such as the Transfer Station, recreation at Hoisington Field, caring for our seniors with Visiting Nurses, mental health support and an important culvert repair,” wrote Murray.
The Selectboard will meet Monday to discuss the next steps, Todd said. The town will need to hold a Special Town Meeting to vote again on a budget proposal.
“I think if you ask 10 people why they say no, the one common answer you will get is, all together, the overall tax increase was too much and now they want us to fix that,” Todd said in a phone interview. “We’re going to need to hear from them what they want to see changed.”
Newly elected Selectboard member Joseph Bublat, who was elected in an uncontested race for a two-year term on the board, declined to comment when reached by Facebook messenger.
Rika Henderson, who was re-elected to a three-year term on the Selectboard, current Selectboard chair Kelly O’Brien, and current member deForest Bearse could not be reached for comment before deadline.
The Weathersfield School Board is scheduled to meet March 17 to decide how to respond to Tuesday’s result. Like the town, the school district will need to schedule a special meeting for another budget vote.
“It’s back to the drawing board,” Arrison said. “It wasn’t even close, which is leaving us wondering exactly what it is that turned the voters off.”
Joining Arrison in trying to interpret the will of voters are Megan Waite, who was re-elected to a three-year term on the School Board, and Vincent Jewell, who was re-elected to a one-year term on the School Board, in uncontested races.
The Weathersfield School District is part of the Windsor Southeast Supervisory Union. Superintendent Christine Bourne did not return a phone and email request for comment on Wednesday.
Roughly 30% of Weathersfield’s 2,393 registered voters cast ballots Tuesday, according to the town clerk’s office.