GLOVER — Voters here approved town and school budgets as presented — both were down from the current year’s budgets.
At the very end of the meeting, an item to see if the town will vote to raise the disabled veterans’ property tax exemption from $20,000 to $40,000 was changed.
The amount was amended to $100,000 on a motion from Nash Basom and passed. Lister Dennis Gibson said there are six properties in town that will be affected.
Earlier in the meeting, when talking with the town’s representatives in the Legislature, Mr. Basom said the state should be thinking a lot about making sure its most vulnerable citizens make it through in times like these. He said he personally would be willing to pay more income taxes to make sure those with least financial means are all right.
Vermonters are compassionate people, he said.
“The measure of our compassion and our humanity is not what we do in good times. It’s what we do in tough times.”
Representatives John Rodgers and John Morley had reported on their efforts to pass a budget and consider state programs in these difficult economic times.
Current use — a program that helps landowners who have farm or forest land and keep it undeveloped — is on the chopping block. Mr. Rodgers said the Legislature has been charged with cutting $1.6-million from the bottom line on that one program. The House Ways and Means Committee has passed a bill that would put a moratorium on new enrollees. Mr. Rodgers said he supports a Senate bill instead that would impose a fee on all enrolled in the program, new and existing enrollees.
“Current use should be a policy, not a program,” he added. He said open land should automatically be taxed at a lower rate. “Open land does not use schools, roads, and bridges, so why should it carry the same tax weight?” he said.
It’s a tough year, Mr. Morley said, but 2012 will be tougher because the federal stimulus money will run out.
“It’s not fun. It’s not easy,” he said.
“There’s a rainy day fund,” said Noel Ford. “Do we need a monsoon?”
He asked Mr. Morley about a bill he sponsored that would permit public school districts to pay tuition for children who attend religious schools and said that violates the separation of church and state.
“Evidently you’re an advocate of sending public money to religious schools,” said Mr. Ford.
He said he also thought Mr. Morley was wasting time on resolutions and a bill related to wild parsnips.
Mr. Morley countered by noting that he had been appointed to the House Appropriations Committee and a regional committee to address budget issues in New England.
“John Morley’s fairly well respected down there,” he said.
On the subject of Vermont Yankee, Mr. Morley and Mr. Rodgers agreed that the vote was political grandstanding and the Senate should have waited until it had more information.
Ross Clark said the state needs to allow small hydro projects.
“Just because a canoe went up a stream 200 years ago it’s a navigable water, and you can’t put a 24-inch pipe in it, is that true?”
“Yup,” said Mr. Rodgers. He said he believes hydro power from dams already in place in the rivers could help Vermont’s energy picture considerably, but the laws must be changed to make the permit process less cumbersome.
Moderator Nick Ecker-Racz agreed and mentioned that the town selectmen would like to do a small hydro project at the Shadow Lake dam, but the process of applying for an exemption from a federal permit costs $150,000.
All officers were re-elected except for two who stepped down. John Rodgers stepped down as tax collector, and Town Clerk Donna Sweeney was elected in his place. Jason Kennedy stepped down as school director, and Jason Racine was elected in his place.
The school budget of $1,782,573 was approved, down from $1,852,257 in the current school year.
School Director Gary Miller said three staff members were cut last year, so the board tried to keep expenses down without cutting any more staff. He mentioned that Glover was the top school in the area for New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) results, which drew a round of applause.
The town budget of $633,725 was approved, compared to $650,561 in the current year. The budget includes $18,000 to lease or buy an excavator. Road Foreman Harvey Dunbar said the town is spending almost that much each summer to rent one, and could have it paid for in five years. The machine should last 15 years, he said.
Re-elected were Moderator Nick Ecker-Racz, Clerk and Treasurer Donna Sweeney (who was also elected as cemetery sexton, town agent and agent to deed town-owned property) Selectman Bucky Shelton, First Constable Rebecca Williams, Second Constable Michael Tenney, Grand Juror Carlton Bickford, Lister Dennis Gibson, Library Trustee Heidi Cooperstein, Cemetery Commissioner Lawrence White, and Bicentennial Scholarship Member-at-Large Elizabeth LeRoy.
Darlene Young was up for re-election for a three-year term to the Lake Region Union High School Board, but due to an error in the warning the item was left off. It is up to the Glover Community School Board to appoint someone.
