In a 2-1 vote, the Rochester Board of Selectmen took the advice of the Finance Committee and approved acquiring $224,000 in debt to fund the Old Rochester Regional five-year capital plan instead of holding a special town meeting to allow voters to approve the bond. The board held a special meeting on Thursday, April 14, to address the matter.
According to Finance Committee Chairman Kristian Stoltenberg, next fiscal year the town’s debt burden will decrease by $68,000 annually. With a drop in the town’s debt service of $68,000 next year, it will accrue $59,000 for the town’s assessment of the ORR capital plan.
“So we [still] have another $17,000,” said Stoltenberg. “There’s that room to plug in another capital item.”
Chairman Naida Parker and Selectman Brad Morse both agreed with Stoltenberg’s opinion that the move made sense from a budget point of view.
“I don’t see … the need to hold a town meeting for something that we can do … within our budgetary constraints and cost the town money,” said Stoltenberg, adding that it would be fiscally prudent because the new debt remains within the levy.
Selectmen in Mattapoisett recently approved the new debt without town meeting approval, but Marion has placed the item on its May 9 town meeting warrant. Town Administrator Michael McCue explained that Rochester faced a 60-day limit to take action on the capital plan debt and the town’s June 6 Town Meeting was past the deadline. Selectmen could either unilaterally approve the debt, hold a special town meeting ahead of the annual that would cost the town extra money, said Stoltenberg, or take no action and accrue the debt by default.
Nonetheless, Selectman Richard Nunes was uncomfortable circumventing a town meeting vote in Rochester.
“If we did have time for this, do what [Stoltenberg] said, but still be a vote, I would just like the voters to have some input on it and not simply swap out … old debt,” said Nunes. “The voters could very well say that they approve of the entire capital plan, but in the end, it’s not my money, it’s the taxpayers’ money.”
McCue explained that Massachusetts General Law allows selectmen to vote to accept the new debt without town meeting approval.
“It allows for this sort of expenditure in this sort of a setting to just go through,” said McCue. “Town meeting doesn’t have to vote … they’d just be voting to allow the process to move forward.”
If the matter did go through town meeting, and the voters rejected the debt, said McCue, then the ORR School Committee could move forward with the call for a ballot vote for the three towns. The outcome would be based on the majority vote from all three towns put together, not by whether the voters of each town pass it.
“It’s very odd … we can do it without input from taxpayers, it being such a large expenditure of public money,” Nunes said.
Stoltenberg assured Nunes that the FinCom does not make these decisions lightly.
“I think we’re doing a service to the town … and hopefully they understand this,” Stoltenberg said.
Nunes emphasized that he was simply expressing his desire to have taxpayers weigh in on the decision. He voiced concern over voter backlash at town meeting.
“This debt will be approved by the town of Rochester today,” said Stoltenberg. “It’s not going to the annual town meeting where it’s going to be shot down.”
Nunes still wanted voter input.
Morse made the motion to approve the debt then turned to Nunes and said, “As much as I understand what you’re saying … I think that, given the situation and the two other towns … it makes more sense to do this now so we don’t have ORR turning around … and adding it back in to the operating budget and making a bigger problem for us.”
Parker seconded the motion.
“I would really hate to see it go back into the operating budget,” Parker said. “I have a feeling that’s exactly what would happen.
The selectmen scheduled their next meeting for Tuesday, April 19, due to the Monday holiday.
By Jean Perry