Bethel Town
Meeting Preview
By Chris Costanzo

Right off the bat, the Bethel Town Meeting Tuesday, March 6, should engender some controversy.

Early on the agenda, Chris Hemond will contest Neal Fox’s bid for re-election to the selectboard. Hemond has criticized the selectboard for being reactive rather than pro-active, and thus failing to head off future problems. Fox, on his part, prides himself on his caution regarding new expenditures, in listening to all sides of an issue before advocating action in controversial matters.

The town’s finances may also spark discussion. Bethel’s proposed budget for 2007-08 will require that $813,236 be collected through taxes, up from $703,682 the previous year. The increase stems from an across-the-board rise in costs.

The new budget would, by itself, generate a municipal property tax rate of $0.78 (per $100 of property valuation) versus $0.68 last year. In both years, the voters increased the proposed budget by additional appropriations contained in separately warned agenda items. A change of $10,395 in the municipal budget translates to a penny change in the municipal tax rate. If all the requests pass, as they did last year, Bethel’s municipal tax rate will rise to about $0.90 this year, over last year’s rate of about $0.75.

One of these additional appropriations last year was $13,725 for various human services organizations, and $14,550 is proposed this coming year.

Another appropriation that may lead to considerable discussion is $88,018 White River Valley Ambulance is requesting; up 42% from last year’s $61,968. The service has suffered declining revenues and some financial reverse in recent years, and there has been some criticism of its management and accounting policies.

Yet another requested appropriation is for $25,000 for the town hall fund, which at the moment contains $85,000. If approved, it will put the town within striking distance this year of installing a new roof on the building. The town hall finance committee attaches considerable importance to this appropriation, not only to complete the roof phase of the town hall restoration project, but also as an indication of the public’s interest in the project, an indication that the committee considers vital for securing critical donations and grants.

School District Meeting

At Bethel’s school district meeting later the same day, the voters will be asked to approve a school budget of $4,550,472, which is $141,000 or 3.2% higher than last year’s. If approved, this increase will lead to a 7.5% increase in the cost-per-pupil to $12,666 (due primarily to declining student population), and the cost per pupil will in turn lead, per state formulas, to an 11.9% increase in the school tax rate for residential property from last year’s $2.053 to $2.297 this year.

The proposed budget will require the school to cut the equivalent of one full-time position. Earlier, the school board had considered and rejected a higher budget proposal that would have been 4.1% over last year’s. It would not have required cutting any positions, but would have resulted in a tax rate of $2.348, equivalent to a 14.4% increase over last year.

The school board decision to cut a position, thereby allowing only a 3.2% budget increase, will generate a $36 "adjustment" (in actuality a penalty) for exceeding a state-imposed threshold of $12,594. Bethel’s $36 penalty (included in the $12,666 cost-per-pupil figure) translates to three cents in the school tax rate. To avoid the penalty altogether, school officials would have to cut their budget proposal further by $40,000, eliminating two full time positions, rather than one.

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