Hermon to consider five articles Thursday

HERMON – Residents will decide Thursday night whether to give final approval to the proposed $1.4 million public safety building.

There are five articles for residents to consider at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Hermon High School auditorium. In addition to appropriating building funds, residents also will consider allotting $318,000 from the capital reserve account to pay for improvements to Newburgh Road.

In the 2006-07 tax year, Homestead Exemption revenues of $130,000 were counted twice in a clerical error. As a result, the town collected $130,000 less from taxpayers than needed, said Town Manager Clint Deschene. Revenues exceeded projections that year, Deschene said, so rather than sending out supplemental tax bills, residents will vote to take the money from fund balance.

Residents also will vote on whether to create a summer school salary reserve from existing school fund balance money, said Deschene. The change in budgeting is expected to create a smoother transition to school consolidation, he said.

Finally, the general government budget for 2006-2007 exceeded the budgeted amount by $9,026. The money is fees incurred by investing, and resulted in an approximately $150,000 return, Deschene said. Residents will vote on whether to cover the discrepancy using available fund balance money, he said.