HOLDEN, Maine — Residents will vote to fill local offices and decide how much to spend on municipal and school operations in the upcoming fiscal year during their annual elections and town meeting June 10 and 11.
Local elections and the SAD 63 budget validation referendum vote are set for June 10 at the Holden Municipal Building. The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Voters will fill the expiring three-year council posts held by Robert Harvey and Ralph McLeod. Both incumbents are running, and they face no competition.
Donald Varnum’s expiring three-year post on the SAD 63 board and the remaining year left for Ryan Haulk’s unexpired term also will be filled. John Gautschi and Christopher Galinski are seeking the three-year seat. Jennifer Newcomb is running for the one-year seat.
Residents will also be asked to vote on the proposed $9.5 million gross budget for SAD 63 that residents of Holden and other member towns Eddington and Clifton approved during the annual district May 22.
Holden’s share of the 2014-15 school budget proposal calls for $2,687.836 — up $23,646 from this year — Kelly Theriault, the school district’s business manager, said.
Polls for Eddington and Clifton residents, who also will weigh in on the school budget, will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. June 10 at each town’s municipal building.
During Holden’s annual town meeting, which starts at 7 p.m. June 11 at the elementary school, voters will consider a $5.5 million budget that includes funding for municipal operations, as well as the town’s share of the SAD 63 budget and the county tax bill.
Acting Town Manager Sherry Murray said in a recent interview the Town Council proposed a $2,504,490 budget for municipal operations in the fiscal year ahead, which is $5,000 less than what the budget committee recommends.
The budget committee wants to put an additional $5,000 into a reserve account for improvements to the Historic Holden Town Hall, which accounts for the difference between the two budgets, Murray said.
Besides the usual budget-related articles, this year’s town meeting warrant includes articles calling for appropriating $100,000 for technical assistance for the proposed Interstate 395-Route 9 connector, as well as an article that seeks to combine the conservation commission and open space conservation reserve accounts into a proposed conservation reserve account and another seeking to combine the municipal building, municipal garage and sand-salt storage building into a single account called municipal building reserve.