Voters to Have Say at Deliberative Session Tonight

At 7 tonight, voters will congregate in the all-purpose room at James Mastricola Upper Elementary School to discuss a six-article warrant recommended for passage by the Merrimack Town Council.

In addition to the proposed budget of $30.1 million for operating expenses for the fiscal year 2012-13, the council is asking voters to approve four other money-related articles, two of which will not be paid by tax dollars.

The budget represents an even tax rate with last year. An increase in $150,000 will be offset by revenue generated from the Merrimack Premium Outlets, Town Manager Eileen Cabanel said

The budget represents a tax rate of $5.24 per $1,000 of property valuation, which is unchanged from this year, in line with the directive from the Town Council to Cabanel at the beginning of this year's budget preparations.

Articles two and three on the warrant ask voters to approve upgrades to the town's Wastewater Treatment Facility and compost facility – neither project will have a tax impact.

The town is requesting voters approve $4.2 million for the second phase of

Most of the equipment at the facility has been in operation continuously since the day the facility opened in May of 1970, Public Works Assistant Director Jim Taylor said.

Taylor said the upgrades will be paid for through a loan from the State Revolving Loan Fund, and that money will be paid back by sewer fees collected by users of the town's sewer system. There is no tax impact to the voters, Taylor said, and further, the project will not force a hike in the user fees next year either.

Taylor said the town's sewer fees are the sixth lowest in the state, at $197 a year, compared to an average of $500 a year elsewhere in New Hampshire.

The article, which garnered a simple majority vote last year, did not pull in the two-thirds majority it needed to pass, Taylor said.

Taylor said the importance of this project passing is high.

“The town has a legal obligation to operate and maintain a facility that is in compliance [with its EPA permit],” Taylor said, and this year the facility is up for review.

The second project calls for $2.85 million for at the wastewater treatment facility, which turns sludge from the wastewater facility into high grade compost that can be used in anything from a backyard flower or vegetable garden to commercial projects like maintaining the grounds at Fenway Park.

This project, like the Phase II upgrades to the treatment facility, will have no tax impact to voters and will not force a rate hike next year, Taylor said. It would be bonded and paid back over 20 years with user fees. It also needs a two-thirds majority to pass.

The remaining articles on tonight's warrant include two collective bargaining agreements for the local police unions.

Article five asks for $31,916 for the recently agreed to collective bargaining agreement reached between the town and the New England Police Benevolent Association, Local 12, which calls for 1 percent wage increase.

Article six represents the dispatch and office staff side of the police department and reflects a collective bargaining agreement that includes a 1 percent wage increase. It calls for $2,921 to be raised for the NEPBA, Local 112, agreement with the town.

Town Councilors have praised the unions for coming to amicable agreements so easily with the town and at a recent Town Council meeting Vice Chairman Bill Boyd said the community should be grateful to the unions for making the concessions they did to make these agreements work.

All five of these articles will be discussed at the meeting tonight, where voters can seek amendments if they desire. The resulting articles from tonight's meeting – amended or left unchanged – will be put to the April 10 ballot that will be voted on by residents at the polls. Votes will also be cast at the polls for