Ballot tops city agenda
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Mike Moore casts his vote at the Godnick Adult Center in Rutland early Tuesday. Vyto Stariskas / Rutland Herald |
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By STEPHANIE M. PETERS STAFF WRITER - Published: March 3, 2009
A Monday night public hearing on the city's Town Meeting Day ballot drew a handful of residents, but none who actually wanted to comment or ask questions about items appearing on the ballot.
One resident who tried to voice his opinion about his vision for what the city should focus on moving forward was told it wasn't the appropriate forum, and minutes afterward, the meeting, which drew Superintendent Mary Moran and several other School Board officials, was adjourned.
Among the ballot items that have drawn the most scrutiny in the weeks leading up to Town Meeting Day has been the Rutland City School District's $44,518,000 budget request, which appears as School Article 1 on the ballot. Today marks the first time a school budget has been put directly before the voters since a grassroots initiative sparked by the city group Taxpayers United of Rutland City passed last year.
The proposed budget is about a 3.3 percent, or $1,418,550, increase from last year's budget of $43,099,450. If approved, it will raise the local school tax rate from last year's figure of $1.24 per $100 of assessed property value to $1.26, based on an estimated statewide rate of 86 cents.
The only other school article on the ballot will ask voters to allow school officials to enter a $1,532,636 energy-savings contract with Johnson Controls that is expected to save the district 26,107 gallons of fuel oil and 397,335 kilowatt hours of energy annually. The cost of the contract is expected to be paid off over a 15-year period by money saved in energy costs and not at any additional cost to taxpayers, school officials have said.
On the municipal side, the most widely questioned issue to appear on the ballot is Article No. 14, which asks for voters to grant the city permission to bond for $2.5 million to be used in conjunction with any federal stimulus proposal that would fund water and wastewater system improvement projects.
Although it is not clearly stated in the wording on the ballot, Mayor Christopher Louras, who introduced the article, said that he would only use the bond if the federal program allowed for negative interest or loan forgiveness; in other words, if it came at no cost to the taxpayers. Treasurer Wendy Wilton and the Board of Aldermen said they would not allow the mayor to use the funds if they were not confident there would be no taxpayer expense.
Article 2 on the ballot asks voters to request that the Vermont Legislature reimburse municipalities when they enact costly mandates, as well as require it to outline and make public what the fiscal impact of their mandates will be before the legislation can be approved.
Rounding out the ballot articles are 11 requests from nonprofit organizations for a total of $332,006. If all are approved, that total figure will add about 3 cents to the tax rate, Wilton has said. Those 11 requests, in the order they appear on the ballot are: $30,000 for Rutland Mental Health; $10,000 for the Rutland County Women's Network and Shelter; $46,140 for the Marble Valley Regional Transit District; $10,000 for BROC-Community Action in Southwestern Vermont; $10,000 for the Rutland County Community Land Trust; a total of $36,975 to be divided in the amounts of $6,000 for the One-2-One Program, $8,475 for Retired Senior Volunteer Program, $2,500 for InterAge and $20,000 for Southwestern Vermont Council on Aging; $35,900 for the Association for Retarded Citizens – Rutland Area; $43,000 for Rutland Area Visiting Nurse Association & Hospice; $9,000 for Vermont Adult Learning/Rutland County Adult Basic Education; $73,491 for Regional Ambulance Service; and $27,500 for Boys and Girls Club of Rutland County.
stephanie.peters@rutlandherald.com