WARWICK — Education, taxes and town infrastructure are the main reasons Todd Dexter is running for Selectboard, he says.
Dexter has lived in Warwick for 27 years, and is originally from New Salem. In August, he became one of the founding members of Warwick’s Highway Advisory Committee, which assists the Highway Department with daily responsibilities and coordinates the department’s long-term plans.
“(The Selectboard) is a form of service where you can directly impact the community,” Dexter said. “I’d like to see more of our residents take an active role in volunteering for our government. … Our townspeople are basically our legislature.”
As a Selectman, Dexter says he would try to further develop Warwick’s broadband internet system and seek solutions to the town’s ongoing issues with landline phone service and cell reception.
He emphasized the need for the Selectboard to be mindful of the town’s tax rate, which is now the 11th highest in Franklin County; particularly, since much of the town’s land is undeveloped and, therefore, untaxable, and the state’s PILOT program (payment in lieu of taxes) has not provided sufficient revenue.
Warwick Community School will inevitably be an issue for the Selectboard to deal with, Dexter says. The Pioneer Valley Regional School District discovered a financial deficit this past spring, now estimated to be about $600,000, and the towns will be responsible for paying it back over a period of up to 10 years. Since then, talk of school closures as a way to make the district more financially sustainable has increased, making many Warwick residents anxious. Warwick Community School and Leyden’s Pearl Rhodes Elementary School, the two smallest schools in the district, are generally considered the most likely to close, if the district pursues that option.
Dexter said that the town’s first choice should be to stay in the Pioneer district, but added that it would be “smart procedure” to investigate alternative options, as well, such as joining a different district if doing so would be a viable way to keep the school open. Closing Warwick Community School could make the town less attractive to new families, Dexter says, which would likely drive taxes higher — a problem that would be exacerbated by the town’s responsibility to pay back its portion of the deficit.
“That’s where our town is now. That’s why I’m running for Selectboard,” Dexter says.
Dexter’s challenger, Patty Lazok, declined to be interviewed by The Greenfield Recorder. She gave a statement that ran in the Warwick newsletter this month.