Barre Finance Committee Reviews FY19 Budget, Marijuana Bylaw, and Flawed Recall Law

BARRE -- May 16, 2018, Barre Finance Committee works through FY19 budget, marijuana zoning, and a defective recall law ahead of June 19 town meeting. The committee reviewed final budget figures from Town Administrator Matt (last name inaudible), including a 2 percent cost-of-living adjustment for town and DPW employees and a new step-pay scale for police, all projected to produce a maximum half-percent tax levy increase. A $60,000 free-cash appropriation would reduce that balance to roughly $21,730, while a $70,000 stabilization transfer remained in the recommended plan. A marijuana-cultivation article would lift the industrial-zone moratorium under conditions tied to state licensing that, presenters argued, currently only one local operator can satisfy before the June 19 deadline. Town Counsel warned that a citizen-petitioned recall-law amendment cannot be handled as a routine bylaw change because the existing act is special legislation requiring a General Court petition, advice that pointed toward withdrawing the article and returning with a more complete fix at a later special town meeting.