Halifax keeps five-member selectboard, all budgets approved
From the Deerfield Valley News, May 12, 2022
Only one article was voted down after Halifax held their Australian ballot on May 3, and Tristan Roberts expects to accept a three-year selectboard position he won by write-in.
Roberts wrote on Front Porch Forum, “Voting to reduce the size of the board eliminates my seat.” He asked residents to write him in as a three-year candidate to resolve any uncertainty about the future of his position. The call to action received quite a response, and Roberts was elected to the position with 40 votes.
The only article that did not pass was Article 8, which would have decreased the size of the selectboard to three members. After many messages of support from members of the selectboard and residents alike, voters decided to keep the five-person board.
“The larger board affords the town better oversight, more opinions, more expertise, and more experience,” wrote board member Pete Silverberg on Front Porch Forum.
The $1.6 million budget for FY2023 was passed 133-21, and despite objections by resident Bob Teree at the town’s budget informational meeting, the surplus from the current fiscal year will be applied as revenue for the newest budget, which the voters approved, 136-19.
Although there was some contention at the informational regarding whether financially aiding the Historical Society was a town function, residents ultimately decided to lend them the $3,500 in question to reprint volume one of a two-volume history of Halifax, 93-56.
With a 96-61 vote, elected auditor positions will return to Halifax.
All school board articles were passed, including a 120-33 vote to establish a maintenance reserve account, and a 107-25 vote to allocate $50,000 of the current surplus to the maintenance reserve account, with the remaining $70,000 of the current surplus to be used as future budget revenue.
The $2.1 million school budget was approved 123-28, and Homer “Chum” Sumner was reelected as school board director with 133 votes.