SHELBURNE — Annual Town Meeting voters will be asked to consider 17 financial articles on Saturday in a limited warrant, headlined by an approximately $4.6 million fiscal year 2021 budget.

The meeting will be held outside under a tent by the Buckland-Shelburne Elementary School bandshell starting at 10 a.m. Various measures are in place to minimize potential spread of COVID-19.

Face coverings or masks are requested. Seating under and around the tent will accommodate social distancing, though voters who live together can sit together.

To make or address a motion, voters will proceed to one of the microphones and wait to be recognized by the moderator. While motions are spoken, voting will be via a card system rather than by voice vote.

Upon arrival, residents will check in and be given a copy of the warrant and voting cards. For safety reasons, there will be no paper ballots.

Town Administrator Terry Narkewicz said the meeting will address 17 articles specific to fiscal matters. Shelburne will continue its Town Meeting in the fall to discuss non-financial business.

“The Shelburne Selectboard voted to limit the warrant to financial articles to minimize time spent at Annual Town Meeting,” she said.

Shelburne’s fiscal year 2021 budget, as presented, totals $4,581,850. This is a $237,560 increase from last year.

Shelburne’s share of the Mohawk Trail Regional School District operating budget, as seen in Article 6 of the warrant, is $2,355,592. Then, Article 7 represents Shelburne’s share of the school district’s capital request, approximately $95,601. The Mohawk Trail Regional School District budget often sparks debate, however, Narkewicz said the School Committee will likely recommend the budget be passed over on Saturday.

In an email to Narkewicz and the Selectboard on May 30, School Committee Chair Martha Thurber said the district is approaching fiscal year 2021 amid a “complicated and uncertain environment.” Massachusetts has not established a budget for next year, and legislators are grappling with an expected $6 billion shortfall in tax collections and other revenues. Though the School Committee passed its budget in February, Thurber said the level of state and local revenues anticipated for that budget will likely not be available.

“Thus, while the MTRSD budget article will remain on Town Meeting warrants, the district cannot in good faith press forward to support our original budget request,” Thurber wrote in the email.

Instead, the School Committee will request starting the year using a one-twelfth budget, which will provide the school district with the same level of monthly revenue as in the current fiscal year. Thurber said this will result in a shortfall of about $57,000 per month compared to the fiscal year 2021 budget that was approved in February.

“DESE (the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) anticipates virtually all regional school districts to operate on a one-twelfth budget for at least the first few months of FY21,” Thurber said.

According to Thurber, the one-twelfth budget proposal involves no anticipated change in the overall total of town assessments versus the current fiscal year. However, some towns may see an increase or decrease, as a result of changes to the state-determined minimum required contribution.

Thurber said this is only the start of an “arduous and painful re-budgeting process.” The district has been advised to plan for at least a 20 percent reduction in state aid. She said they can develop a modified budget in a few months, after the state assembles its own budget proposal.

“Unless circumstances change, this likely will mean previously unthinkable reductions to staff and educational programming,” Thurber said.

Other articles on the warrant relate to finances for varied town business. For example, Article 13 asks voters to approve approximately $150,000 to purchase a used 2018 Western Star 4700 six-wheel truck with a plow, wing plow and dump body for the Highway Department. Article 14 requests to raise $10,000 through taxes for a COVID-19 Town Building Retrofit Account, which would allow to town to install new health safety measures at Town Hall and other public buildings before they are reopened to the public.

The health safety precautions and format for this year’s Annual Town Meeting were decided by the COVID-19 Task Force, Selectboard, town administrator, town clerk, town moderator, Board of Health and Buckland-Shelburne Elementary School personnel. Narkewicz said she does not know what to expect for attendance on Saturday.

“It all depends how comfortable people feel,” she said.

Copies of the meeting warrant are available in the foyer of Town Hall and on the Shelburne town website. Saturday’s meeting will be held regardless of general rain. If the weather is severe, the meeting will be postponed to Sunday, June 14, at 2 p.m. If the weather becomes an issue in the middle of Saturday’s meeting, a recess or adjournment may be approved by voters.

2020 Annual Town Meeting Warrant Final 2 by Zachary DeLuca on Scribd

Zack DeLuca can be reached at zdeluca@recorder.com or 413-930-4579.