Voters Guide to the Special Town Meeting, October 4, 2023

A special, in-person town meeting election has been called by the School Board with little advance notice. The vote is at 6:00 pm tonight at the school cafeteria. Here’s the official announcement, which came out on September 30. The article is as follows:

ARTICLE 1: Shall the School District raise and appropriate an additional sum of One Hundred Eighty-Six Thousand Three Hundred Ten Dollars ($186,310) to be added to the 2023-2024 Operating Budget adopted by the District in March 2023 for the purpose of Building Maintenance, Technology for cyber security measures and equipment and Curriculum Materials; said funds to come from the increased education funding (adequacy aid) to be received from the State of New Hampshire for fiscal year 2023-2024 and not from general taxation.

The School Board recommends this appropriation by a 5-0 vote.

The Budget Committee does not recommend this appropriation by a 6-5 vote.

The issue at hand is confusing and the voters have not been provided much background information. Here are the key things voters should know.

• The money is coming from the state. There is no impact on taxes.

• The town will get the money regardless of the vote at the town meeting.

• The money was unexpected, and therefore not budgeted for in the town’s budgets.

• The total amount of money the town is receiving is about $240k. Of this, about $64k will automatically go into the town’s general fund.

• The town meeting is to decide what budget the remaining $186k is to go into. 

• The School Board voted unanimously to recommend putting the $186k into the school’s current-year operating budget. This is what will happen if the voters approve the warrant article.

• The School Board wants the money to be put into the school’s current operating budget to pay off the remaining $130,000.00 on the boiler that was replaced earlier this year, to improve cyber security measures to protect students and staff and sensitive records, and to buy textbooks.

• The Budget Committee, by a 6 to 5 vote, disagreed with the School Board’s recommendation. The Budget Committee thinks the $186k should go into the town’s general fund. This is what will happen if the voters reject the warrant article. 

• Rejecting the warrant article does not mean that the town is rejecting the money and giving it back to the state.