Stamford Rejects School Budget, Cuts Town Budget
 Voters grilled town officials at Monday's Town Meeting before cutting the town budget and refusing to fund a salt shed. |
An hour long debate over the operating budget set the tone for the 5 1/4-hour Town Meeting, with voters cutting the amount to be raised by nearly $40,000 in a squeaker vote.
They also debated the merits of spending on cemeteries, putting $18,000 into the equipment replacement fund, and providing for the Southwest Vermont Council on Aging ($400) and BROC ($700) before approving those amounts. Funding for the library and fire department passed easily but a $1,000 for a summer after-school program was rejected.
After the 2 1/2 hour Town Meeting, voter's money worries continued into the annual school meeting, rejecting a request of $25,000 for a full-day kindergarten by 79-44, postponing a $20,000 article on a technology purchase and killing a proposed School Maintenance Reserve Fund.
Several voters pointed to remarks by Gov. Peter Shumlin about towns keeping their budgets to 3 percent and level funding school budgets. Stamford's appropriations were up by more than 11 percent over last year.
"How can you justify an 11.5 percent increase?" asked Carl Taylor.
Select Board member Eunice Rice said the increase in costs was in large part because of a paving project that has added $40,000 to the budget over each of the next three years; a new highway employee and accompanying insurance costs and the rising expenses of fuel, which is estimated $6,200 more than this year.
Meeting members quizzed town officials on costs related to Tropical Storm Irene, health insurance and funding for updating software in the town office.
Stamford was lucky in terms of costs associated with Tropical Storm Irene compared to the rest of Vermont, said Treasurer David Fierro Jr. The state will be reimbursing about $70,000. However, he said, "our budget's pretty bare bone."
"I looked through this budget and tried to save every penny I can," said Road Commissioner David Tatro. "This just allows me to go out and just do my job ... keep the roads safe."
 Town Meeting offers a chance for the |
"None of us got an 11 percent increase this year," said Kim Kennedy, who applauded the highway crew. "This budget is going to force a lot of people to lose their homes."
Voters also took aim at a proposal to build a salt shed at a cost of about $200,000 at the orders of the state. The covered shed was required to prevent salt, currently covered by tarps, from seeping into waterways.
That didn't sit well with residents, who argued that once salt was on the roads it would end up in the water anyway. The town could face fines from the state and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, but that didn't dissaude voters.
"The bottom line: I don't feel we can afford it," Taylor said. "Let the chips fall where they may ... We can't afford it."
That refrain continued during the school meeting portion as voters expressed their commitment to education but said they couldn't afford to fund it at the increasing rate. The average homeowner would see about an annual $180 tax increase if all the school articles had passed.
Only two did. Voters OK'd $10,600 for the third annual payment on a five-year heating project loan and allowed the establishment of the maintenance fund, but refused to fund it until the board could clarify its definitions on capital and maintenance. A $20,000 request for new computers was postponed until a special meeting for June 14 to give the board time to put together more details on what was going to be purchased and how.
The total budget, minus revenues, was up $170,000 over the last year. But the School Board has control over only about 10 percent of its budget, said board member James Sarkis. "This school is pretty much level funded as last year."
  Voters told school officials to come back with a new budget. A presentation before the meeting began went over some of the school budget highlights. |
There are currently 63 students enrolled in kindergarten through Grade 8 with 69 expected to attend in the fall, including 14 in kindergarten. School officials said in the past they had investigated closing the school and tuitioning students but the costs in transportation were high and children would have to spend up to 45 minutes on buses.
"I know that when we looked at transportation it would be equal or greater than what we're currenlty paying," said Aase. "The elementary costs are not accelerating at the same rate the high school costs are accelerating."
The closest school, in Clarksburg, Mass., said it didn't have the room and sending the children there "would be illegal," said board member Cynthia Lamore.
"It just seems the cost for continuing the school deserves some serious, serious study," Barbara Barlow said. "At some point the school committee has to come to us and detail the options. ... We can support education but we cannot continue to support the dollar amount."
Town meeting election: Select Board: Christopher Dargie, David Bugbee and Thomas Houghtling; School Board: Jessica Bugbee; moderator: William Levine; library trustees: Carol Ethier-Kipp, Caroline Burch; Cemetery Commission: Janice Farinon.
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