LEVERETT — Residents had their minds on the past, present and future at the annual Leverett Town Meeting on Saturday.
Voters affirmed their support for schools, historical preservation and remaining a nuclear-free zone. The town also set a cap of 1.5 percent for future budget increases rather than the state-allowed 2.5 percent.
All 33 articles on the town warrant, including a petition, passed, and each was thoroughly discussed by engaged community members during the Town Meeting, which lasted from 9 a.m. to around 2:30 p.m.
Finance Committee Chairman Tom Powers gave a presentation to voters to explain why they should cap tax increases each year at 1.5 percent instead of the state-allowed 2.5 percent.
Powers explained that the state sets a 2½ percent tax increase cap each year up until the property tax rate equals $25 per $1,000 of property evaluation. An override is required if the town wants to increase the tax rate by more than 2½ percent in a year, but no matter what, the tax rate can’t go above the $25 cap.
Data presented by Powers showed fluctuating total property valuations over the last 16 years since 2002, and showed an increase of around 2½ percent in the tax rate each year since 2006.
For 2018, Leverett’s tax rate was $21.05. According to Powers’ presentation, 23 municipalities in Massachusetts have composite tax rates higher than $21, and only five municipalities have tax rates above $24. This means, Powers said, that the 2.5 percent cap allowed by the state is not likely to be raised anytime soon.
Powers said a drop in valuation of properties in the town could increase the tax rate and that, at the rate of steady 2.5 increases passed by the town each year, it is a “race to the bottom,” until running into the final $25 cap as property taxes are the main source of revenue for the budget each year.
“We’d like to take a slow glide into this cap, rather than a hard hit,” Powers said.
Town Meeting passed the revised cap, along with the proposed $6,052,921 budget for fiscal year 2019, but the vote sparked a lengthy discussion about school funding, the lion’s share of the budget — 65.5 perent in 2018. The budget for fiscal year 2019 shows a 1.4 percent increase from the year before.
A request for $20,000 to cover operating expenses for the Leverett Elementary School in response to revenue losses for the fiscal year 2019 prompted a spirited discussion and was decided by a paper ballot vote. It passed 170 in favor to 15 opposed.
School Committee Chairwoman Bethany Seeger said the revenue losses for next year are due in large part to fluctuating numbers of students participating in school choice. Like other communities, Leverett receives $5,000 for each student who opts to come into the district, and must pay $5,000 per student leaving.
Seeger said fewer numbers of students choosing to come into the district next year left a $50,000 revenue loss, only 3.4 percent of which is covered by the town’s proposed budget.
During the discussion, one resident said school choice was supposed to provide “money in the cookie jar” for unique school programs and had since become an unreliable part of the structural budget, while another resident called school choice “a pact with the devil.”
According to an information sheet, Leverett Elementary has already made cuts such as eliminating field trip transportation and the Morse Hill Adventure Program, along with a teacher’s aide and custodial position. Seeger said without the additional funds from taxpayers, the school would need to cut back arts, music and physical education programs next.
According to the sheet, the $20,000 requested of Leverett residents will add $15.84 in taxes to owners of a $200,000 house.
Jack Dinsmore said he turned 18 in December, and this was his first time voting in Town Meeting. He said a large proportion of his schoolmates from Leverett Elementary later took advanced math classes and had been accepted to good colleges.
“It’s thanks to taxpayers putting so much into our schools,” Dinsmore said.
He said later that funding the community’s schools was top on his voter priority list Saturday and that he was happy to participate for the first time. He’ll be attending the Massachusetts Insitute of Technology next fall, he said.
Other residents brought up different pieces of the education funding puzzle, from suggestions to push for sparsity aid legislation to revisiting and revising the Chapter 70 state aid program for elementary and secondary schools.
The town election was the first order of business on Saturday, but the open assessor position remained vacant after no one was nominated.
Moderator Larry Farber said of the assessor, “It may be a thankless job, but it’s an important one.”
Aside from assessor, posts up for nomination were four positions on the Board of Health, two library trustee seats, a constable, a seat on the Finance Committee and on the Planning Board, two positions on the School Committee, and one position on the Select Board.
Everyone nominated on Saturday was elected.
Sarah Todd was voted into a position on the Board of Health and John Hillman, David Stultz and Rich Brazeau were unanimously re-elected to positions on the Board of Health.
Brian Emond was re-elected as one of the town’s three constables for a three- year term.
Bethany Seeger and Levin Schwartz were unanimously re-elected to the School Committee for three years, and Lisa Sullivan-Werner and Rachel Flint were unanimously re-elected library trustees for three years.
Ken Kahn was unanimously re-elected to a five-year term on the Planning Board.
Powers, the Finance Committee chairman, won another three-year term on the committee. Greg Woodard, despite cautioning voters that he might not be in town for the entire term and encouraging others to run, was nominated and unanimously voted onto the Finance Committee as well.
A vote to re-elect Julie Shively to a three-year term on the Select Board passed with large majority.
Voters also passed a number of “housekeeping” articles, including allocating money from free cash and stabilization funds, addressing needed capital improvements and cleaning up details from last year’s Town Meeting.
Money from the free cash fund, any surpluses from previous years, will cover, among other things, painting the exterior of the library, buying a replacement vehicle for the fire chief, and covering repairs to Town Hall and Leverett Elementary School.
Voters also passed a 3 percent tax on recreational marijuana sales. Some businesses have started to show interest in opening up in Leverett when recreational sales become legal this summer — a topic for later discussion, Ken Kahn said.
Residents also voted to use money from the Community Preservation Act fund to fix the roof of a historic box factory, repair 55 historical gravestones in the Chestnut Hill (Mount Hope) Cemetery and to complete a report on a survey of residents’ views on historical preservation.
The last order of business was a citizen petition for the town to call on the U.S. government to lead a global effort in preventing nuclear war. Resident Nancy Emond said Leverett became a “nuclear free zone” in 1981, posting “nuclear free zone” signs all around town, and said the petition would be a good opportunity to reaffirm Leverett’s opposition to nuclear weapons.
The petition passed unanimously and with a smattering of applause; the residents of Leverett then exited the school gym to enjoy the spring sunshine and the rest of their Saturday.