Jefferson voters approved all 31 town warrant articles at the town’s annual town meeting by referendum on Tuesday, April 16, including a municipal budget of $1,376,164 and the use of $100,000 from the Jefferson Village School’s long-term maintenance fund for a special-education-related project at the school.
Incumbent Jefferson Select Board Chair Pamela Grotton was reelected in an uncontested election with 72 votes, while one write-in vote was cast and 10 voters abstained.
The budget category that passed most narrowly was the cost center for administration of local government, which totaled $460,476. This cost center was approved with 68-14.
An article submitted by the Jefferson School Committee to approve the transfer of $100,000 from the school’s long-term maintenance fund for a special-education related construction project passed 61-20. The funds will be used for renovations required to bring more in-house special education programming to Jefferson Village School.
An article to decrease the size of the Jefferson Budget Committee from 12 to seven members passed 66-16. Town administrators struggle to find enough willing volunteers to fill the committee’s seats, Jefferson Select Board member Claudia Orff-Reed said on April 8.
Another approved article will grant the town the ability to deposit funds from the annual alewife harvest into a reserve account for the Meserve Dam. Prior to this measure, there was no account for dam funds, select board member Robert Clark said.
Other approved articles included the appropriation of $70,000 to a Jefferson Fire and Rescue Fire Truck reserve fund, which passed 70-11, and numerous charitable contributions to social and community service organizations including the Jefferson Snopackers, Spectrum Generations, Healthy Kids, and the Jefferson Food Pantry, among others.
With all articles approved, the $1,376,164 municipal budget is an increase of $103,279 or 8.11% from last year.
The next meeting of the Jefferson Select Board will be held on Monday, April 22, at 5 p.m. in the Jefferson town office.