LINCOLN — The annual town meeting in Lincoln will be held upstairs in Burnham Hall on Monday, March 5, at 6 p.m.
Voters will be asked to approve a 14 percent increase in general fund spending to $385,102, and a 4.4 percent decrease in highway fund spending to $978,893.
The selectboard proposes to both increase the bookkeeper’s salary, commensurate with an increase in hours, and offer health insurance benefits for the position, which would account for most of the $44,044 increase in general fund spending. Highway spending would decrease by $45,042 to reflect a reduction in the number of full-time road crew positions.
Nine additional articles on the agenda ask for voter approval on 27 specific line items, including $44,000 for the Lincoln Library and $55,896 for the Lincoln Volunteer Fire Company, both of which are level funded.
At Monday’s meeting, residents will also be asked to support a resolution urging the state of Vermont to halt any new or expanded fossil fuel infrastructure, commit to the goal of using at least 90 percent renewable energy in the future, and ensure that the state’s transition to renewable energy is fair and equitable for all.
Lincoln residents Sarah McClain and Annie Svitavsky are running for a three-year term on the Mount Abraham Unified School District (MAUSD) board, to fill a seat vacated by Barry Olson.
Two Lincoln selectboard members are running unopposed: Paul Forlenza for a three-year term and James Needham for a two-year term.
Town meeting agendas will no longer include budget discussions for individual schools. The new MAUSD Board scheduled its own annual meeting for this Feb. 27, as well as a public information hearing on the bond proposed for the renovation of Mount Abraham Union Middle/High School on Feb. 28. On Tuesday, when Lincoln residents go to the polls to approve town business and elect town officials, they — like residents in the other four school district towns — will also be asked to adopt a $28,343,828 MAUSD budget — a 1 percent spending increase per equalized pupil — and the $29.5 million bond. The bond would cover renovation of the 50-year-old Mount Abe high school building. Voters in the school district have rejected two similar bonds — both for more money — in the past three years.
To elect all town and school officers by Australian ballot voters should report to a new polling place this year, the Lincoln town office, which will be open on Tuesday, March 6, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.