Wellington residents OK budget increase

WELLINGTON – Residents on Saturday approved a budget at the annual town meeting that will increase the mill rate from $14.65 to $17.10 per $1,000 valuation.

“The increase is due to state mandates that were not reimbursed by the state,” First Selectman Marc Pomerleau said Monday.

The 14 percent increase in the county tax and education costs also affected the budget, he said.

The town had to come up with more funding for homestead property tax exemptions, changes in the audit, and renovations to the Town Hall to be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, Pomerleau said.

Several social service agencies were not funded by the approximately 40 residents who attended the meeting. Pomerleau said most residents figured these agencies were supported by the county and the county was receiving enough from the town in taxes.

Funds were approved for the Heart of Gold Snowmobile Club, Eastern Agency on Aging, Pine Tree Hospice and Wellington organizations.

Residents did agree to change the fiscal year from starting on Jan. 1 to starting on July 1. This move will give town officials a much better idea of what appropriations will be and will require less estimation, according to Pomerleau.

A winter maintenance contract with Vaughn Bussell was approved with a 5 percent increase in each of the three years of the contract.

Officers elected included Bette Pratt, town clerk, tax collector and excise tax collector; Pomerleau, Paul Violette and Mark Wormwood, selectmen; Belinda Trafton, treasurer; Vaughn Bussell, road commissioner, and Patricia Izbicki, SAD 4 director.