BY MATT HERSH

Salem residents will have their first chance to publicly discuss the town’s and school district’s financial requests at two deliberative sessions on Feb. 8 and 10.

School warrants

On Thursday, Feb. 8, school officials will meet with voters to discuss a $49,724,647 budget and another $2,599,236 in warrant articles.  If all items are approved by voters in March, the school district’s finances will have increase taxes by 7.92 percent.

The district has come under heavy scrutiny by the budget committee and several members of the public, who said their requests were out of control.  School officials argued the increases were largely due to the rising cost of special education and retirement which are state regulated and necessary.

Combined with the rising cost of property taxes after the town went through a property revaluation, the school budget was seen by some officials as being unfair to taxpayers.

In January, the budget committee finished cutting the operating budget, reducing it by $428,748.  Since then, Superintendent Michael Delahanty said the district will seek to restore about $125,000 to the budget to fund a new technology position and pay for teacher training sessions during the summer.

Residents who attend the deliberative session will have the opportunity to help shape how March ballot items will appear.  Further cuts to some items can be proposed by residents as well.  Adding or removing money from the district’s budget will require a majority vote from those in attendance.

“I think the session should go fairly well because the only difference between what the district wants to do and the budget committee is the restoration,” said school board member Roland Maher.  “It’ll be up to the voters there.”

The district’s warrant articles include a series of raises for employees totalling $2,174,632.  This series of five warrants will give district employees raises ranging from 2 percent to 3.5 percent.

Voters will also have a chance to look at the district’s $394,604 capital improvement plan (CIP), which will fund renovation projects at the town’s six schools.

Despite public criticism of the school district, Maher said the school board tried to bring in the most affordable budget and warrant articles they could in light of their cost increases.

“The revaluation is hitting a lot of people hard,” Maher said.  “In an effort to be responsible, we’ve put off a bunch of things we’d rather not to give some comfort to people whose taxes have gone up.”

Stephen Campbell, a former budget committee member who has been outwardly critical of the school district’s actions, said he expects the deliberative session to go by without incident.

“Generally speaking, when they’ve asked for restoration, they’ve gotten it,” he said.  “I don’t think much is going to change, but the school will be putting one more nail in its own coffin in terms of March.”

Since the majority of those who attend the deliberative session are in support of the school district, Campbell said, the money will be added back. But those who are against the increases could vote down the budget in March.

“They can keep asking and asking, but when people go to the ballot box, a lot of them are going to vote no,” he said.

The school district’s deliberative session will take place Thursday, Feb. 8, at  7 p.m. at Salem High School.

Town warrants

Two days after the deliberative session of School District Meeting, the town will conduct its own at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 10, at Salem High School.

Though less controversial than the school district’s finances, voters will see a presentation on the town’s $31,825,994 operating budget, three bond articles, and several other warrants.

While the operating budget, only a 4.2 percent increase over last year, has been called “historic” for its low rate, some officials said the town will meet its biggest opposition over three bond articles totalling $6 million.

A town-wide bridge improvement program – the town’s largest bond warrant at $3.8 million – will fund the repair of bridges on Haverhill Road, Emerson Way, Pelham Road, and North Main Street. The roads leading up to the bridges will also receive improvements.

Included in the bridge bond is an $800,000 water study, which Town Engineering Director Robert Puff said is a necessary part of understanding how to best approach the repairs. Budget committee members eventually approved the entire bond, but some still questioned the necessity of the study.

Another $1.4 million bond will fund running water lines on North Main Street to bring municipal water to 297 homes in the area. Residents who receive the water will be subject to a $5,000 charge regardless of whether they use the water or not, according to Town Finance Director Jane Savastano.

Both the bridge and water line will be paid for over a 20-year period.

A final bond article will request that voters raise up to $2 million to fund the purchase of 84.6 acres of farm land in North Salem known as the Duston Farm.  The request to purchase the land was brought forth by members of the conservation commission, who want to preserve it because it is one of only three operating farms in Salem.

Budget committee member Kathy Cote said these bonds could create a stir among voters.

“People are upset about their property taxes and there wasn’t supposed to be a bond this year for the town,” she said.  “Now all of a sudden we have three and if you push people far enough, they’re just going to vote ‘no’ on everything.”

Selectmen Chairman Michael Lyons said the town will not attempt to restore any money to their budget, but he’s urging voters to support the bond projects, especially the bridge project, which will address the town’s infrastructure needs.

“Overall, the town strategy was to put together a plan that would address issues in town without adversely affect the tax rate,” he said.  “With this, we can deliver what people expect from town government.”

There is also a possibility the conservation bond will be zeroed out at some point during the Town Meeting season because the owners of the farm might not be willing to sell it, Lyons said.

Not including the bond articles, Lyons said the tax impact is under 3 percent. Some budget committee members and citizens said the bonds should be included in calculating the figure, bringing it to about 5.5 percent. 

Lyons said he does not include them because the bond payments will not begin until next year, and his board plans on compensating for it by taking money out of other areas of their budget to reduce the burden.