PAXTON — The annual town meeting will start on the usual day — the first Monday in May. But that may not be the date that the town meeting work gets done by voters.
The Select Board set the May 1 date at its Jan. 30 meeting after looking at whether it could delay the town meeting date. That had been done recently under statewide COVID emergency provisions.
But without the pandemic rules, the town has to meet on the required date.
Town Administrator Heather Munroe researched the details, determining that the first Monday of May was a town bylaw, adopted March 5, 1973.
Concerns about whether the town will have accurate state financial information by that date prompted the discussion of options.
Select Board member Kirk Huehls said having the meeting that early would not give officials and voters information on what the town is getting from the state in assistance.
“If we approve the budget and the state doesn’t come through with what is expected, then we are back to the drawing board,” Huehls said.
Without the state information, a town could pass a budget, but state funding changes, including a later date for the new governor’s budget, could immediately put that budget out of balance. That would require town voters to hold a follow-up town meeting to make the needed adjustments, such as cuts to balance the town spending plan.
Munroe found the original documentation in town files to clarify that the provisions on the date held the force of a bylaw and not a simple vote.
“So there is no changing that on a short-term basis,” Select Board Chair Julia Pingitore said of the date. “Is this something we would want to open and postpone to a later date, or go forward with it?”
Select Board member Carol Riches said if the warrant was put together, voters could conduct the business that could be done and then continue the meeting to another date.
The board then formally voted to hold the annual town meeting on May 1, 2023, at the Paxton Center School, and prepare a warrant. But if the budget numbers are still in flux, the town could start the meeting and then recess to a later date.
In other business
The Select Board voted not to approve a proposal for the Worcester County Retirement system to add an additional 2% in cost of living raises for retirees in the county system. They already got a 3% raise, so the figure would be on top of that, for a total of 5%. That figure would then be added to the base in calculating raises in coming years.
The town is one of the first in the regional retirement system to actually vote on the proposal, which would add $14,141 to the town’s yearly assessment.
A total of 35 of the towns have to approve the additional raises in order for them to go into effect.
Select Board members also approved an increase in the cutoff for senior citizens eligible for the senior workoff program. The income limit will now be $46,440 for a one-person household; for a two-person household, the limit would be $53,040 to be eligible for the program.
