LEICESTER — It was smooth sailing at town meeting in Leicester this year. When they gathered at the Leicester Meeting House on Monday evening residents approved the proposed $695,235 of town spending for the coming fiscal year, an amount that is roughly $23,000 higher than current spending.
Of that increase about $14,000 comes in General Town Expenses spending, for which the selectboard earmarked $305,695. The cost of town accounting software is increasing, and the budget allots more money for the Lake Dunmore and Fern Lake Association for milfoil removal.
The remaining $9,000 comes in a modest increase in Highway Expenses to $389,540.
In a separate move, voters also approved a request for $50,000 to pay for road paving.
In Australian ballot voting on Tuesday, 258 voters (or 36 percent of the Leicester voter checklist) returned incumbent selectmen John Rouse (three years) and Ron Fiske (two years), as well as incumbent town clerk and treasurer Julia Delphia — all in uncontested elections.
In Presidential Primary voting, Leicester Democrats backed Bernie Sanders with 87 votes, followed by Joe Biden, 51; Michael Bloomberg, 16; Elizabeth Warren, 15; Pete Buttigieg, 4; and Tulsi Gabbard, 1. In the Republican Primary the results were, Donald Trump, 70; William Weld, 8; and Michael Bloomberg, 1.
Leicester voters weighed in on three spots on the Otter Valley Unified Union School Board. Angela Ouellette won re-election to her seat as a Leicester representative, Brandon resident Mike Lufkin won an at-large position, and Brandon’s Kevin Thornton won an at-large seat as a write-in candidate.
Residents of Leicester and the five other Otter Valley Unified Union School District towns approved a $20,377,427 school spending plan for 2020-2021; the tally was 1,098-877. It reflects a 2.22% increase in spending over the current year. Education spending per the state’s equalized pupil formula has per pupil spending increasing from $14,826 to $15,399, a 3.86% increase.