Changes to town government, allocations of Harvard’s $1.36 million free cash windfall, a meals tax, and a request to borrow $500,000 to study and design needed renovations at Hildreth Elementary School were among the warrant articles approved by the selectmen Tuesday night for consideration by voters at this year’s Annual Town Meeting in April.
The vote to accept 57 of the proposed 60 articles was unanimous and followed discussion that lasted less than an hour. The selectmen also voted unanimously to place two questions on the April Town Election ballot. There was little debate, save for disagreement over the order of articles proposing changes to town government, a request by the Conservation Commission for money to purchase land (see “Selectmen may cut off request to buy conservation land”), and requests from the selectmen for studies of old library accessibility requirements and the potential for senior housing on Hildreth House property. The latter two articles were withdrawn at the request of Selectman Leo Blair, while the Conservation Commission article was placed on hold pending further information.
Pure democracy
For those unfamiliar with New England’s 300-year-old form of town government, a warrant is a package of spending proposals and changes to local laws prepared by various boards and committees for the approval of voters. Town Meeting is the town’s legislative body, at which every citizen gets to speak and vote. It’s an arrangement some have called the world’s purest form of democracy.
The largest spending request, as always, is the town’s fiscal 2017 omnibus spending budget, which pays for administration, schools, police, fire, employee benefits, and more. As of Feb. 17, the size of that request was estimated by Finance Director Lorraine Leonard to total $23.5 million, a 3.7 percent increase over fiscal 2016, which ends June 30 this year. That number will likely change before the Town Meeting, but not by much.
The largest debt request comes from the School Committee, which is asking the town to borrow $500,000 to pay for a study of what needs to be done to renovate the kindergarten wing of the Hildreth Elementary School and make other upgrades to bring the building up to code. The Massachusetts School Building Authority will reimburse Harvard for nearly 45 percent of the study cost, but the town needs to borrow the money now to show good faith and start the study.
Town Meeting attendees will be offered a fresh source of revenue in the form of a local meals tax. The tax would add 0.75 percent to the state tax on meals served in Harvard, with the amount collected returned to the town. The state Department of Revenue has estimated that enacting the local meals tax would add about $25,000 per year to the town’s annual revenue.
Free cash
As expected, the warrant contains articles that would enact the uses of free cash recommended previously by the Finance Committee and the Capital Planning and Investment Committee. If the four related articles are approved, the town will distribute the $1.36 million in available free cash as follows:
$720,000 to reduce the $2.97 million that will need to be borrowed for the renovation of Town Hall
$282,250 to pay off three short-term loans taken out to pay for the schematic design of Town Hall, a new forestry truck, and the Pond Road parking lot at the Bromfield School
$82,213 to cover debt service on money borrowed by the capital committee
$295,599, the balance, to add to the Capital Stabilization Fund, which is used to pay for future vehicle and equipment purchases and other items with a cost greater than $20,000 and a lifetime greater than five years
Town governance
The warrant contains four articles that could lead to changes in the structure and operation of town government. The first, Article 33, is the citizen petition that asks the town to create a nine-member charter committee to draft a charter for the town of Harvard. If approved, the committee would be appointed by the town moderator. But if a related ballot question calling for a nine-member charter commission passes, this article would be nullified.
The three additional governance articles, which will be immediately taken up following a vote on the charter committee, would add to the duties of the town administrator and change the offices of town clerk and constable from elected to appointed positions. The changes in duties proposed for the town administrator are those proposed by the working group convened by Town Moderator Bob Eubank at the request of Bragan to advise the selectmen.
Several articles inserted by the Planning Board tweak the town’s zoning bylaws, most notably a change that would allow development of an assisted-living facility within the commercial district. And the Conservation Commission is asking the town to adopt an erosion bylaw to regulate the clearing and grading that typically accompany land development.
Ballot questions
Finally, the selectmen approved two of three questions that will be on the April 12 ballot. The first asks the voters to authorize the town to borrow the $500,000 needed to study and design the renovation of HES; the second would allow future town clerks to be appointed. The third, a citizen petition calling for creation of a charter commission did not require the selectmen’s approval.
In future issues, the Press will explore this year’s warrant and ballot questions in greater depth and in our pre-Town Meeting issue will offer readers our annual “The warrant in plain English …” version of its contents.
Discussion of the warrant began Feb. 23 shortly after 8:30 p.m. and ended less than 90 minutes later, meeting Chairman Ricci’s stated goal of spending less than 90 seconds on each measure.
Assembling the warrant is an “enormous undertaking,” said Selectman Blair, acknowledging the behind-the-scenes work of Town Administrator Bragan and Executive Assistant Julie Doucet. “Well done.”
Town Meeting is scheduled for the nights of Tuesday, April 4, and Wednesday, April 5. Bragan told the selectmen he hoped Town Meeting would act on the first 32 articles Tuesday evening, leaving the governance articles and those that follow until Wednesday. Bragan and Doucet planned to finish assembling the warrant Friday and Saturday this week, sending the finished booklet to the printer on Monday. Copies will be mailed to every Harvard residence.
The selectmen meet Tuesday, March 1, Super Tuesday, when they will decide which articles to recommend. Ricci proposed the board endorse the School Committee request for a study of Hildreth Elementary School needs. Their support for other articles is yet to be determined.
