MIDDLEBURY — Middlebury residents at their March 2 annual meeting will decide a proposed fiscal year 2027 budget of $15,998,045 — a roughly 9.9% increase — and then, on March 3, will go to the polls to decide a three-person race for two seats on their selectboard.

If the FY27 budget is approved by voters, Middlebury’s municipal tax rate would increase by 9.27 cents (just shy of 10%), to $1.0226 per $100 in property value. That’s substantially higher than recent annual increases in the tax rate, but an improvement to the 10.9-cent hike the board was evaluating at the earlier stages of the budgeting process.

Roughly 4 cents of the proposed 9.27-cent municipal rate hike relates to mandated debt service on the voter-approved Ilsley Library expansion and renovation project that’s now in full swing at 75 Main St. Contracted employee wage increases and surging health care premiums are also among the town’s fixed costs. Find detailed info on the FY27 budget at tinyurl.com/mttxwsha.

The contested selectboard race features Dannielle Boyce, incumbent Dan Brown and Peter Jette, who are vying for two available three-year terms. Longtime selectboard Chair Brian Carpenter has decided not to seek reelection.

In addition to fielding the proposed FY27 municipal budget, business at Middlebury’s annual meeting on Monday evening will include:

• A request to allow the selectboard to apply $350,000 from the town’s local option tax surplus to offset some of the property tax impacts of the Ilsley Library project.

• A proposal that the town collect FY27 property taxes in two equal installments, due to the treasurer’s office on Nov. 16, 2026, and March 15, 2027.

Then, during March 3 Australian ballot voting, residents will decide:

• A $1.5 million bond issue to complete the final stage of a three-phased, 11-year effort to replace an almost 10,000-foot-long stretch of aging water main adjacent to Foote Street, between Route 7 and Quarry Road. The town is applying for $1.5 million through the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund to support the project with a low-interest loan, which would soften the impact on municipal water rates.

• A non-binding resolution urging the state Legislature to discuss and vote on bill H.433, which would launch “Green Mountain Care,” a publicly financed health care program for all Vermont residents that would initially offer universal access to primary care.

• School budgets and elections.

Voters will weigh in on a proposed fiscal year 2027 Addison Central School District budget of $53 million, to provide PreK-12 public education for children in Bridport, Cornwall, Middlebury, Ripton, Salisbury, Shoreham and Weybridge. If approved, the budget would result in a 3.58% increase in per-pupil education spending, for a total of $15,638 per child.

The proposed spending plan calls for a 2.15% bump (3 cents) in the district’s current education property tax rate of $1.62 per $100 in property value. But the actual education tax rates in the seven ACSD-member towns will vary, based largely on their common level of appraisal (CLA). CLAs — as determined by the state — compare towns’ property tax assessments to fair market value. If approved, the ACSD spending plan would result in a Middlebury education property tax rate of $1.67 per $100 in property, based on the district’s latest projections. That would be up 2 cents (1%) compared to this year’s rate of $1.65.

It should be noted that two-thirds of Vermonters pay at least a portion of their school taxes based on income.

There’s a referendum on the March 3 ballot asking residents of Bridport, Cornwall, Middlebury, Ripton, Salisbury, Shoreham and Weybridge if they’d like to officially close Ripton Elementary. If that referendum passes, it paves the way for Ripton to reacquire the property.

Voters will be asked to fill four seats on the 13-member ACSD board — two from Middlebury, one from Salisbury and one from Bridport. There are no takers for the Salisbury seat and one of the Middlebury seats. Meanwhile, Middlebury incumbent Jason Chance and new candidate Robyn Stattel of Bridport are unopposed on the ballot. All ACSD candidates run at-large in the seven-town district.

The Independent found out at the last minute that Salisbury resident James Clark is offering himself as a write-in candidate for the Salisbury seat on the ACSD board. He told us, “I live in Salisbury with my wife and our three children. I’ve stepped forward as a write-in candidate for the open Salisbury seat because I believe healthy communities depend on steady participation from the people who rely on them.”

County residents will field a proposed fiscal year 2027 Patricia Hannaford Career Center budget of $6,271,915, representing a 9.95% increase compared to the current spending plan that delivers Career and Technical Education to students interested in the trades. The increase is largely associated with debt service on a major Career Center improvement project, negotiated wages, and health insurance increases.

Aside from the selectboard race, there are no other contested elections on Middlebury’s Town Meeting Day ballot.

Middlebury’s March 2 annual meeting will be held in the Middlebury Union High School auditorium, beginning at 7 p.m. Australian ballot voting will be held the next day, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., at the town’s recreation facility at 154 Creek Road.