Hamilton Voters OK Full-Time Council on Aging Director, $25.6 Million Budget

Each of the 142 registered voters that entered Hamilton's Annual Town Meeting on Saturday in the auditorium at Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School was handed a voter card to be used in the case of a close vote.

But those cards were not needed.

Each of the warrant articles brought before voters passed in the 2-1/2 hour meeting - all all on a voice vote and many without any opposition.

The $25.6 million fiscal 2014 budget was approved that includes funding for a full-time Council on Aging director and a stand-alone emergency dispatch center for only Hamilton, after Wenham leaves by July 1.

An estimate based on the approved spending would mean the average tax bill next year would go from $6,748 to $6,995, said John McWane, chairman of the Finance Advisory Committee.

The budget uses $443,000 in so-called free cash, or fund balances from past years. And that number could go up before the 2014 tax rate is set in December, McWane said, which could lower the estimated $17.80 tax rate per $1,000 value.

The tax rate "is a real concern for us and we are still working on it," McWane said.

Hamilton's share of the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District budget - $23.8 million - was approved without discussion.