WHITING — The legal voters of Whiting will wrap up Town Meeting Day in Addison County when they gather for their annual town meeting this coming Tuesday, March 5. The assembly at Whiting Town Hall begins at 7:15 p.m.
Those legal voters will decide whether to accept the selectboard’s proposed municipal spending plan of $487,675, which would be $31,415, or 6.9%, more than the town budget approved at last March’s meeting. The amount that would be collected in property taxes is also going up; the proposed spending would require $315,250 in taxes, which is $24,946, or 8.6%, more than last year.
Whiting residents will also nominate and vote for five town officers. On the top of the list a three-year term on the selectboard that is currently held by Bob Wood. Other offices on the warning are lister (three years, currently Rani Fallon), auditor (three years, currently Pat Mattison), first constable (one year, Rusty Brigham) and collector of delinquent taxes (one year, Rani Fallon).
While town business takes place Tuesday night, Whiting will host Australian ballot voting at town hall that day, 7 a.m.-7 p.m., for the presidential primary and to vote on the Otter Valley Unified Union (OVUU) school district budget. The schools are proposing 2024-2025 spending $27,247,823. That budget represents a 12.71% increase over the current year’s spending, but on an equalized pupil basis, it is a 9.74% increase.
Calculations in January showed that this level of spending would drive up education property taxes in the six town district between 17% and 28% for those who paid based on their income (two-thirds of Vermonters pay less for their school taxes because of state support).
Whiting residents may cast ballots on the board representing the OVUU, but this year there will be not many names to choose from. There are no contested races, and only two board members are seeking re-election: Natalie Steen of Brandon and Fernanda Canales of Goshen. Several board members, including Rebecca Watters of Whiting, are not running, and a couple are stepping down mid-term. On the ballot with no candidates are a Brandon seat with one year remailing on a three-year term, a Leicester seat with two years remaining on a three-year term, and three-year terms for seats in Whiting, Pittsford and At-Large. It’s too late to get your name on the ballot, but anyone who wishes one of these school board seats may run a write-in campaign.
