2013 Town Meetings

February 26

Lower proposed Cambridge budget probably won't mean tax cut

By Brenda Seekins, Correspondent

CAMBRIDGE  — The proposed municipal budget before Town Meeting voters on Saturday is about 4 percent lower than the current one, but a drop in the property tax rate is unlikely because of uncertainty about state funding. 

Cambridge

Meeting: 10 a.m. Saturday at Cambridge Town Office, 202 Ripley Road

Elections: from the floor

Voting on five ordinance drafts planned: cemeteries, personal wireless facilities, marijuana dispensary and cultivation, wind power facilities, public indecency/adult entertainment

Registered voters: 364

Voters at 2012 Town Meeting: about 50

Municipal budget proposed to be raised from taxation: $147,029, a 4 percent reduction.

Property tax rate: $18.70 per $1,000 of assessed value

The proposed budget decreases by $6,629 to $147,029. 

Among the budget proposals, voters also will be asked to replenish a dam restoration fund that went unfunded last year. The board used $4,000 from the fund and will ask taxpayers to refund the expense in this year’s budget.

The budget’s effect on the current property tax rate of  $18.70 per $1,000 assessed value is uncertain because of state proposal’s to cut municipal and school funding. The municipal budget also does not include spending for schools or the county tax.

The Town Meeting is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. at the Cambridge Town Office and will break for a fundraising lunch that helps support the software fund.

Elections are held from the floor of the meeting. This will be the first year for staggered terms for the selectmen, starting with one year for the first selectman, two years for the second, and three years for the third. All incumbents are expected to seek re-election, including First Selectman Ronald J. Strouse, Second Selectman William J. Digby, Third Selectman Ronald R. Watson, Town Clerk Carol Laplant and School Administrative District 4 directors Holly Gifford and Evelyn Farrar.

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