The Special Town Meeting held on Oct. 16 was pretty well attended, with over 400 people in Cronin Auditorium: Yay! Democracy in action! The main draw was Article 1, the vote to provide additional funding to rehabilitate the Town Hall, which is falling down; literally falling down. Discourse was civil and the vote in favor of the additional funding was 255, and the vote against was 154. Had this article been a majority rule, it would have passed by a wide margin, as it has, indeed in at least four town-wide votes over the past few years related to bringing Town Hall into the 21st century. Alas, a two-thirds vote was needed to carry the day.
The vote was related to an increase in the tax rate, and I so regret that this particular part of the message was not made clear: the additional increase in the tax rate will be 9 cents. Yep, $0.09 per $1,000 of assessed value over the next 20 years. Another way to look at that? $36/year/household. Now, I’m not sure why 154 people decided that fixing the Town Hall so that increased meeting space, lower heating bills, and accessibility for all was not worth, oh, the equivalent of 18 cups of coffee per year purchased at your favorite local coffee place, but that happened. However, the 4,005 registered voters in this town do have a chance to express their views on Nov. 5, when this vote will be placed before them.
Aloha,
Mary H. Vesenka Turner
Littleton County Road
