Town Deliberative Session February 4, 2023

Minor changes to warrant articles. Heated debate over the 4% tax cap.

Attendance at the deliberative session was light, around 100 voters. Most of the proposed warrant articles will go to the voters unchanged, and most of them were little debated at the deliberative session. All of the votes had an overwhelming majority. 

Only the following articles were much debated or changed. 

#19. To Rescind the 4% Tax Cap

There was heated debate over this article despite the fact that there wasn’t anything that could be done at the deliberative session to prevent this article from going to the voters. 

At one point during the debate the Moderator, Dawn Fernald, had to call the police to force Budget Committee member Tom Butkiewicz away from the microphone because of his repeated refusal to yield the floor back to the Moderator. He yielded before the police got to him and was allowed to remain in the meeting. Earlier in the meeting, he had accused the Moderator of changing her rules from how she handled things at last year’s meeting. Dawn Fernald pointed out to him that she was not the Moderator last year and that therefore it was impossible for her to have done any such thing.

#6. Town Operating Budget

The voters at the deliberative session approved two small increases to the proposed budget.  The original proposed budget was 4.3% higher than last year. The 0.3% increase was allowed as it comes from increased revenue and was therefore exempted from the 4% cap. 

One increase was to include $6.5k in dues to the regional planning commission, to enable the town to have a vote on that commission and to acquire discounted services from the commission.  Advocates pointed out that the town’s planning board budget is less than $60k. Meanwhile, the planning board is having to handle an increasing case load, both in terms of volume and complexity. 

The other was a $1k salary increase for the assistant town clerk, whose salary had not been increased since 2020.

#11. $400k for Highway Construction

It was noted that $100k of what had in recent years been part of the town’s operating budget for highway work was moved out of the operating budget and put into a warrant article so that the town could meet the 4% tax cap.

#18. $40k for Repairs to Town Facilities. 

Budget Committee chairman Michele King explained that the Budget Committee rejected this article 0-7 (2 abstentions) despite the 5-0 approval of the Board of Selectmen because of the wording of the article. 

Revised wording was presented to the deliberative session and approved. 

Selectman Donna Danis said this article was important because “the town is a victim of the town’s frugality” and that the town now faces high costs for deferred maintenance issues that would have been less costly if tackled earlier. She further pointed out that managing maintenance issues typically falls to the Town Administrator, a role that is not specialized in handling the detail of such maintenance issues. 

Budget Committee member Michael Kelly disputed Donna Danis’ claim that the town was a victim of its frugality. His view was that the town inappropriately spent its money on new things while failing to appropriately fund the maintenance of its existing facilities. 

#15. $10k for the Invasive Species Fund

Proponents of the article presented a map of the lake detailing the large increase in invasive species infestation relative to last year, noting particularly that the town beach had become infested and that this had the potential to spread catastrophically throughout the shallow waters of the Fundy portion of the lake, destroying the natural ecosystem. 

Planning Board chairman Ed Viel pointed out that if the invasive species infestation takes over Pawtuckaway Lake, the value of waterfront properties will fall, eroding the town’s tax base to a far greater degree than it costs the town to contain the infestation. 

Budget Committee chairman Michele King said the Budget Committee was usually split on this each year, and was again this year split 5 to 4 on this. 

Budget Committee member Michael Kelly was opposed to the article because he claimed that there was no town oversight regarding spending from the fund. Selectman Tony Dumas contradicted him, pointing out that the Board of Selectmen oversee this fund just as they do the other town funds. 

Budget Committee members Michael Kelly and Tom Butkiewicz complained that these costs should be borne by the state and not the town, and that the town was sending the wrong message to the state by taking action on the problem. The problem should be left for the state to resolve.