SHOREHAM — Shoreham residents at their town meeting Monday evening will be asked to borrow up to $140,000 over five years to finance a 2017 Western Star Truck, and will consider selling a 0.75-acre, town-owned lot to generate more money for a key reserve fund.
The parcel in question is located south of the former Newton Academy. It has access to municipal water and wastewater services, thereby enhancing its value as a building lot. Proceeds from the sale would be placed into the town’s Building and Grounds Repair Reserve Fund.
Residents will be asked to approve a 2017-2018 local highway budget of $678,454, down slightly from the current spending plan of $681,890.
The general fund budget request comes in at $287,117, which is almost level with this year’s budget of $287,479.
Other financial requests on this year’s warning include:
•  Placing $20,000 from the general fund balance into the  Highway Equipment Reserve Fund.
•  Creation of a Sand and Salt Shed Reserve Fund, with an initial $15,000 in seed money.
•  Creation of a Shoreham First Response Emergency Vehicle Fund, seeded with $10,000.
•  Taking $10,000 in fund balance to place into the Building and Grounds Repair Fund.
•  Using $10,516 in fund balance for the Fire and Rescue Vehicles Equipment Reserve Fund.
For the first time in many decades, Shoreham residents will not decide a local school budget on Town Meeting Day. They — along with other voters in the newly unified Addison Central School District (ACSD) — will instead decide a K-12 budget for the entire seven-town district.
The proposed ACSD budget for 2017-2018 calls for approximately $37.7 million in spending to cover the combined operating costs for all nine district schools. The budget reflects $30,428,802 in net, local education spending, which represents a 0.60-percent decrease compared to this year, according to ACSD officials.
Shoreham’s homestead education property tax rate is projected to decline from the current $1.66 per $100 in property value to $1.60, according to the ACSD budget documents.
There are no contested elections in Shoreham this March. Those running unopposed include Karen Shackett, one year, selectboard; Will Stevens, one year, selectboard; Kathleen Brisson, one year, treasurer; and Will Stevens, one year, town moderator.
The town is having a hard time filling several elected positions. A three-year term on the selectboard currently has no takers. And there are three, 10-month terms on the local school board that haven’t drawn candidates. That local school board will go out of existence at the end of this year as the ACSD board gradually assumes all responsibilities for K-12 public education throughout Addison Central.
Shoreham’s annual town meeting will be held on Monday, March 6, at 6 p.m. in the Shoreham Elementary auditorium. Australian ballot voting will take place the next day, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., in the town offices.