LEICESTER — Leicester residents will gather at the Leicester Meeting House on Monday, March 2, at 7 p.m. to make decisions on town finances. Between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 3, they will cast ballots for town officers and their votes for proposed Otter Valley Unified Union School District spending and OVUUSD board members.
The Leicester selectboard has 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 board is asking $305,695. The cost of town accounting software is increasing, and the board is proposing 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.
The total does not includes a request for $50,000 to pay for road paving. That measure has been on Leicester’s annual warning for several years.
Officials said the tax impact of the increase is hard to assess until the grand list is made final.
While residents will make their choices on the Presidential primary ballot, there are no contested local races in Leicester. Incumbent selectboard members John Rouse and Ron Fiske are seeking re-election.
Leicester voters will also weigh in on three spots on the Otter Valley Unified Union School Board. Angela Ouelette is running for re-election to her seat as a Leicester representative, and Brandon resident Mike Lufkin is running for an at-large position. But another open OVUUS board position has no candidates — write-ins will be accepted for the second at-large seat.
Also on March 3, residents of Leicester and the five other Otter Valley Unified Union School District towns will vote on the proposed $20,377,427 budget for 2020-2021. 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.
If approved, the education tax rate in Leicester would rise 13 cents (or 10.21%) to $1.419 per $100 of assessed property value.