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Date: 6/1/2022
HUNTINGTON – The Annual Town Meeting on June 6 is the second step of a two-step process required to pass the Proposition 2½ overrides for the town’s share of the Hilltown Community Ambulance Association and the public library.
Voters must first approve the overrides in the special town election on June 4, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Stanton Hall, 26 Russell Rd.. The ballot questions, which are separated, ask voters to allow the town to assess an additional $86,328 in real estate and personal property taxes to fund the public library, and to allow the town to assess an additional $58,777 in taxes to fund the ambulance service.
If the overrides pass, the second step is to approve two articles on the town warrant at the June 6 meeting, at 7 p.m. and also at Stanton Hall, in which any registered voter can participate.
During an information hearing on May 23, Selectman Edward Renauld said a simple majority is needed to pass both the ballot questions and the Town Meeting articles.
“If they pass, both will be fully funded,” Renauld said at that meeting, adding that property taxes would increase by roughly $148 annually for an average home.
He said if the overrides don’t pass, the town is still obligated to provide emergency medical transportation, so would have to come up with an alternative method to fund the ambulance, probably out of the stabilization (savings) fund.
“If the library doesn’t pass, we would recommend no funding,” Renauld said.
As the $86,328 override represents the library’s full budget, that would mean closing the library for the entirety of fiscal year 2023, the 12 months beginning July 1.
Other items on the warrant at the Annual Town Meeting include Article 8, which asks the town to appropriate $2,981,153 as the town’s assessment for the Gateway Regional School District using the alternative assessment method.
However, the alternative assessment method, which requires the consent of all six towns in the regional district, is no longer available, as Middlefield voted to use the statutory assessment. For Huntington, that means an increase of $145,429 to its assessment.
Article 9 asks the town to appropriate the sum of $690,875 for Huntington’s costs for vocational tuition, taking $554,567 from tax reciepts, $100,000 from free cash – money left over from previous budget years – and $36,308 from the town stabilization fund.
However, at the May 23 meeting, Renauld said the amount for vocational tuition may increase if students that are on waiting lists are accepted into the school.
Article 10 asks the town to spend $88,459 for Huntington’s share of the cost of vocational transportation for the coming school year.
Article 11 asks the town to transfer $12,000 from free cash to a trust fund account for municipal workers’ post-employment benefits.
Article 14 asks the town to appropriate $82,000 to buy and equip a tractor with loader and backhoe to replace the 1995 New Holland tractor at the Highway Department, and authorizes the town to borrow the sum.
Article 15 asks to purchase a $65,000 police cruiser, using $42,000 from the town’s Capital Equipment Stabilization Fund and the rest transferred from Police Department funds. The new vehicle would replace the department’s 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe.
Article 16 asks to accept a revised Gateway Regional School District Agreement to govern the relationship between schools and the six member towns. Town Meeting voters in Montgomery unanimously rejected the regional agreement on May 23. The agreement must pass all six towns to be ratified. The district includes Blandford, Chester, Huntington, Middlefield, Montgomery and Russell.
Other articles on the warrant include amendments to the bylaws concerning kennel license fees, special permit transfers and laws governing the town’s Council on Aging.