JAY — Selectpersons will hold a public hearing on a proposed $5.5 million municipal budget and associated warrant articles at 6 p.m. Monday at Spruce Mountain Elementary School.
The Select Board will also discuss with the Budget Committee and residents what to do with the town’s $488,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act. The town has received half of the money and is expected to receive the rest later this year.
The budget will be voted on between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. April 26 at Spruce Mountain Middle School gym. Absentee ballots will be available March 25 at the Town Office.
The spending package includes $32,239 for a per diem firefighter to be at the station from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. five days a week to help with staffing. The Fire Rescue Department budget is proposed at $301,139. It’s an increase of $37,039 over the current budget.
The overall proposed municipal budget for 2022-23 is $216,159 more than the current budget, but after factoring in revenues it will be about $79,165 less than the budget approved last year. It does not include the town’s share for Regional School Unit 73 and Franklin County.
Residents will also be asked in April to consider a warrant article for a $9,000 in-kind contribution for labor and equipment to the Hollandstrong Tennis Courts project next to Spruce Mountain Elementary School. The project is estimated to cost about $413,000.
The Hollandstrong Community Foundation was set up by Deb Roberts of Livermore in memory of her son, Michael Holland of Wilton, who was one of 33 crew members who died on the SS El Faro when it sank on Oct. 1, 2015, near the Bahamas. He was a 2008 graduate of Jay High School.
Voters will also consider an article authorizing deposit of all revenues generated by the telecommunications tower lease and any timber harvesting of the Jay Recreation Area parcel into the Tower Fund Reserve Account. It would also authorize the Select Board to appropriate reserve account funds for recreational purposes in an amount it deems best for the town.
The monthly lease payment for the communications tower is $1,249.41. There is about $158,o36 in the reserve account, Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere previously said.
The town plans to have another selective timber harvest of the area this year.
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