Springfield debates paving, blight and budgets

Residents on Monday night questioned the $28 million school budget, extra money for paving and whether or not declaring that Springfield had “blight” was a good idea.

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Photo by Len Emery Boy Scout Troop 252 opens the proceedings at the 2016 Springfield annual town meeting gathering. Published March 1, 2016 in the Rutland Herald Springfield debates paving, blight and budgets By SUSAN SMALLHEER SPRINGFIELD — Residents on Monday night questioned the $28 million school budget, extra money for paving and whether or not declaring that Springfield had “blight” was a good idea. Few binding decisions were made pre-Town Meeting Day; most articles are decided by Australian balloting today. The school budget will actually result in a modest decrease in taxes; the town budget calls for a 1.59 percent increase in taxes. While there wasn’t a single question about the proposed $11 million town budget, there were plenty of questions about the $400,000 special article for paving, as well as making the formal declaration there was blight in town. Town Manager Tom Yennerell said the additional $400,000 would give the town more than $700,000 to pave roads this summer. Yennerell said that the town’s roads management plan called for “preservation” of existing roads that are in relatively good shape, with poorer roads slated for work in future years. He said that South Street and feeder roads, along with Carley Road and feeder roads, would be paved with the additional money. The $11 million town budget would cause taxes to rise by only 1.49 percent, but the extra $400,000 would mean an additional $61.60 per $100,000 of assessed value, Yennerell said. Resident Everett Hammond, who is chairman of the Springfield Budget Committee and a professional engineer, had prepared the assessment of the town’s 90 miles of paved roads, as well as its dozens of miles of dirt roads. Hammond said that the town had been spending between $300,000 and $400,000 a year on road paving for the past several years, when the town should have been spending between $900,000 to $1 million. Kristi Morris, chairman of the Springfield Select Board, said the special paving article was an attempt by the Select Board to gauge whether the town supported paving. And Yennerell said the board rejected asking for a special bond, because of the extra interest cost. The blight article will allow the town to pursue grants in the future, Selectmen Walter Martone said, and it doesn’t single out any specific property. On the school side, school officials outlined the proposed $28 million school budget, which for the first time is going to result in a proposed decrease in the school tax rate. The school board has cut about 15 positions, most in the Gateway Program, in an effort to bring the budget under the state’s new budget restrictions. Superintendent Zach McLaughlin said the school administration was hoping for a 3-cent decrease in the school tax rate, but that it might be 3 ½ cents, depending on final figures from the state. All-day voting will be held at Riverside Middle School. Polls open at 8 a.m., and close at 7 p.m. http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20160301/NEWS02/160309959