Voters Approve $90M FY13 Budget [POLL]

At the , there was a loud cry to lower taxes and cut expenses. Line items were questioned, voters asked for spending cuts to be made. Several residents spoke of the difficult economic times that have many unemployed and underemployed. But in the end, the 306 voters in attendance approved a $90 million FY13 budget by majority vote and without making any changes to the proposal.

“I'd like residents to remember how fast the taxes have gone up over the past ten years… the average residential tax rate has increased more than 7% every year,” said Thomas Newton Drive resident Steve Buttiglieri. “If taxes continue this increase, the financial danger is higher taxes and lower property values.”

The FY13 budget includes Blake Street resident Paula Less urged School Committee members to think about implementing bus fees. Vincent Borkowski of Adams Street suggested using a contracted janitorial service instead of employing 31 custodians.

“We have 3,500 students in our buildings every day and the buildings are used frequently in the evening,” said Ilyse Levine-Kanji, chairperson of the School Committee. “We have heard about issues in places, like in Wellesley, and have decided that we like knowing who is in our buildings with our children.”

It was not until that voters acted on the desire to stop spending, voting down While the proposed building project earned majority support from the Advisory Finance Committee (AFC), there was some dissent.

“We felt that we were asking the town for too much too soon. We felt we didn't really understand the scope of the project and cost of the project,” explained AFC member Kathy Senie. “On the recreation center, we felt that more thought and more work on the design needed to be done.”

Voters agreed, defeating the motion by majority vote.

The proposed $11 million plan for a new fire station was approved. The plan includes demolishing the current station and building a new facility at the corner of Phillips and Milk streets.

When Special Town Meeting concluded, in the 10 p.m. hour, voters continued with Annual Town Meeting. The voting continued until just after 11 p.m. and part way through Article 8 of 30 articles. The meeting will continue on Monday, March 19 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium.

We want to know what you think about the voting at town meeting so far. Do you think voters have made the right decisions by approving the $90 million FY13 budget and voting down the $22 million town building renovation plan?