NEW HAVEN — New Haven will hold its 264th annual town meeting on this coming Monday, March 2, at 6:30 p.m. at the Town Hall.

At that meeting, voters will be asked if New Haven taxpayers should, “pay for recycling through their property taxes for the Saturday morning drop off in town, whether you use the service or not? The garbage and recycling service will continue but prices will likely increase for those who use the in-town drop off located behind the town offices.”

The town report notes that New Haven officials received two petitions to be fielded under Article 5 on the town meeting warning: “To transact, vote and act upon any further non-binding business, which may legally come before this meeting.” The first asks if the town should appropriate $1,500 to the Bristol 4th of July Committee to help fund its annual Independence Day celebration and parade.

New Haven voters will also join several other local towns in fielding a non-binding resolution asking whether voters should “call upon the General Assembly to discuss, take testimony, and vote on H.433 during the 2026 session?” H.433 is a bill in the Vermont Legislature that aims to implement a publicly financed health care program for all Vermonters, beginning with universal primary care.

Both questions will be fielded from the floor at New Haven’s town meeting.

Voting by Australian ballot to elect town and school officers and approve town and school district budgets will take place on Tuesday, March 3, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Town Hall.

There aren’t any contested races for school board and selectboard seats on the March 3 ballot in New Haven.

Selectboard incumbents John R. Roleau (two-year term) and Marie Jewett (three-year term) are running unopposed.

Kathi J. Apgar is seeking another three-year term on the Mount Abraham Unified School District Board and faces no challengers.

When considering the proposed spending included on New Haven’s March 3 ballot, it’s worth noting the town budgets follow a January-December calendar year, while the MAUSD budgets use a July-June fiscal year. Thus, school-related charges and payments show up in different New Haven fiscal years.

Town officials have previously explained that voters will see a large surplus in the general fund, a large portion of which is made up of school taxes that are collected in one year and paid in the next. As a result, Article 8 of the New Haven town meeting warning includes both a $709,000 “school payment” due and a $767,702 “2025 surplus.”

With that in mind, voters are asked to approve:

• Around $844,952 in general fund expenses, down $30,620.89 from what was OK’d last year. If approved, about $572,864 would be raised by taxes.

• A proposed road fund budget of around $1,591,323, up $17,860.61 from what was approved last year, with $910,902.05 to be raised by taxes.

• A proposed library fund budget of $81,779, with $30,424 to be raised in taxes.

• $4,900 in voted appropriations for local organizations, spanning Articles 11 through 14. An additional $27,808.25 in appropriations for 19 other organizations is included in the general fund budget proposal and detailed in the town report.

Article 10 on New Haven’s town meeting warning asks if voters should “adopt the Amended Town Plan submitted by the New Haven Planning Commission to the New Haven Selectboard on Jan. 6, 2026?” Residents will field that question by Australian ballot.

New Haven voters on Town Meeting Day will also be asked to OK a $37,862,780 MAUSD spending plan for the 2026-2027 school year. The proposal reflects an increase of 8.51%, or $2,968,337, over the current year.

District officials estimate that the proposed budget, if approved, would translate to a 3.41-cent increase in New Haven’s FY27 tax rate after the CLA is applied for those who pay education taxes based on the value of their home. Residents who pay based on their income are expected to see a decrease of 12.1% based on the median household income for the area ($88,478).

New Haven residents will also field a Patricia Hannaford Career Center FY27 budget of $6,271,916 to deliver vocational-technical education to Addison County students, an ask that represents a 9.95% increase compared to this year.