Update: The debt exclusion vote passed 200-50 on Wednesday. Turnout was about 20 percent and Town Clerk Marilyn Gomeau described the balloting as going smoothly with "a steady flow" of voters through the afternoon and evening. 

 

The vote means that the $500,000 borrowing to fix the elementary school roof passed at town meeting last month will not be calculated as part of the town's Proposition 2 1/2 levy capacity, but as a separate charge. 

 

Originally posted June 24, 2025, at 12:57 p.m.: CLARKSBURG, Mass. — Voters will decide whether to exclude a half-million dollar borrowing for the school roof from Proposition 2 1/2. 

 

The vote on Wednesday, from noon to 7 at the Community Center, follows the approval of the borrowing at town meeting on May 29. 

 

Town meeting authorized the borrowing of $500,000 and also approved the use $113,371 from the school roof stabilization fund. The bid from D.J. Wooliver & Sons was $399,000, but town officials secured up to $613,000 to cover any unexpected expenses. 

 

The school roof has been a concern for years, ever since a new school project was defeated in 2017. A $500,000 earmark for the roof by former state Sen. Adam Hinds was nixed by the Massachusetts School Building Authority because the school is not up to educational building standards.

 

The issue became more critical earlier this year when the roof began leaking and buckets appeared in the classrooms. Town and school officials had broached the possibility of another school project, but the urgency of the roof's condition prompted the decision to borrow. 

 

A yes vote on Wednesday means repayment of the borrowing will not be calculated as part of the Prop 2 1/2 levy limit. The five-year borrowing is expected to add $200 to the average property bill, declining each year starting in fiscal 2027. 

 

This vote is similar to the debt exclusion vote held in 2019 for a five-year borrowing of $1 million for road and school repairs. 

 

The roof will be replaced this summer while school is out. It's expected to take about two weeks.