MONMOUTH – Voters will decide the fate of 32 warrant articles by secret ballot on June 14 in an election that replaces the traditional town meeting.
Public debate and open-forum voting on spending articles – a long-standing tradition in small-town Maine politics – is in the past, at least for now.
In November, townspeople voted 1,356 to 816 in favor of deciding articles by secret ballot referendum.
Several people at a recent public hearing suggested that some voters might not have understood the question. Some local folks have called for a restoration of the traditional town meeting.
If voters reject any budget articles, there is a chance that one or more town departments could close on July 1, the date the next fiscal year begins.
But passage of Article 29 could avert closure of town departments. If voters approve it, any department budget that fails to pass in the election would operate on the previous fiscal year budget until voters approve a new budget article.
If Article 29 fails and voters reject spending proposals, departments could remain closed until the earliest date the town could hold a special election. That would be 45 days after town meeting.
Schools are protected by a state statute that prohibits closure if spending articles are not approved and requires that the previous year’s budget remain in effect.
But the fire department, for example, would not be protected, Town Manager Jason Simcock said.
He said that the proposed spending plan is likely to result in little or no tax increase. The proposed $2.78 million town budget is 1.86 percent higher than the current budget.
The proposed school budget is $6.38 million, up 2.78 percent from last year. The amount to be raised by taxation is $2,594,895, the same figure that was approved last year.
Simcock explained that increases in valuations and projected revenues, offset by about $140,000 in Homestead Exemption reimbursements that the town must come up with during the coming year, could affect the tax rate.
The condition of the Town Garage continues to be an issue for employees and equipment. Town officials are asking voters to approve spending $200,000 to add two new bays to the garage, which now has four bays. The new bays would be used for equipment storage and an office, break room and utility room.
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