Temple residents are set to vote on a broadband internet bond and several recommendations from the town’s Land Use Committee at Town Meeting in June. Voting for elected officials is still scheduled for March 9 along with the required vote on the ConVal warrant. A motion to move the town vote back to June by Select Board member Bill Ezell went unseconded at a meeting on Feb. 9, despite several residents asking Ken Caisse and George Willard to reschedule due to COVID-19 concerns.
The 2021 total operating budget is $1,230,558, a 0.2% increase from last year’s $1,228,165. Those totals do not include warrant article expenses.
Temple has not finalized its warrant but Select Board members approved all articles at their Feb. 9 meeting, although Article 11 was split 2-1, with George Willard voting against.
Article 2 asks voters to approve $1,862,543 to install fiber optic broadband internet town-wide. $710,435 of that comes from a bond, and $1,152,108 comes from broadband provider Consolidated Communications.
Article 3 asks voters to spend $1,230,558 on the town’s operating budget, which does not include expenses from separate articles.
Article 4 asks voters to spend $126,000 on Highway Department paving projects, and withdraw the remainder of the $248,000 project cost from the town’s Asphalt and Paving expendable trust.
Article 5 asks voters to renew the Temple-Greenville joint police department agreement for another year.
Article 6 asks voters to spend $14,820 on a new police cruiser. That amount is Temple’s 39 percent share of the total $58,000 cost, with the rest to be raised from the Police Cruiser Expendable Trust Fund and the Police Detail Revolving Fund.
Article 7 asks voters to spend $38,386 to complete the final payment on the Highway Department’s backhoe.
Article 8 asks voters to spend $93,000 on a six wheel dump truck and sell or dispose of an existing truck as it best serves the town.
Article 9 asks voters to spend $45,000 on engineering, survey, and architectural work to further study relocating the Highway Department to the town land known as the Holt and Skladany properties, and create a new Highway Department Study expendable capital reserve fund to hold those funds. Voters would receive a report on estimated costs, financing, timing, and aesthetics at the conclusion of the study.
Article 10 is a petition article that asks voters to adopt SB2 protocol for Temple and allow official ballot voting on all issues before the town, rather than the current Town Meeting format.
Article 11 asks voters to spend $7,000 so the town can conduct two lot line adjustments on town-owned land. The adjustments would result in the town selling two single house lots and retaining a smaller section of land as a conservation easement and trailhead.
Article 12 asks voters to place a conservation easement on 16.44 acres of town-owned land including the v-shaped field by the Historical Society schoolhouse.
Article 13 asks voters to increase the existing veteran’s property tax credit to $500, from the current $100.
Article 14 asks voters to increase the income limit on the existing tax exemption for the elderly to $30,000 from the current $13,400 for individuals, and to $45,000 from $20,400 for qualified married couples, and to increase the asset limit (which excludes a person’s house) to $50,000 from $35,000 for individuals and $75,000 from $35,000 for qualified married couples.
Article 15 asks voters to adopt a property tax exemption for people with disabilities that reduces their assessed property value by $25,000 if they met residency, disability, income, and asset requirements.
Article 16 asks voters to spend $3,000 on purchasing new vehicle radios for the Fire Department, only if the Fire Department secures a FEMA grant.
Article 17 asks voters to create a Temple Recreation Commission expendable trust fund for the Recreation Commission’s use in programs and events.
