WINDHAM – In nine minutes, the residents of Windham approved a municipal budget of $14,552,736 at the annual town meeting on Saturday.
With adoption of the budget, the municipal portion of the tax rate will rise an estimated 25 cents, or 1.73 percent, to $14.70 per thousand of valuation.
After being unanimously elected as moderator, state Sen. Gary Plummer led the two-dozen attendees in the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by a moment of silence for Windham residents past and present who served and died in military service.
At 10 a.m., after Plummer officially called the meeting to order, citizens made short work of the seven warrant articles on the agenda.
“There isn’t much to say,” said Town Manager Tony Plante after the quick meeting. “Windham residents were efficient today.”
Each warrant had a unanimous vote, with no discussion. For Regional School Unit 14 School Board chairwoman Marge Govoni, whose husband David Nadeau is a town councilor, it wasn’t the speedy meeting that was troublesome, but rather the lack of attendance.
“Budget season is always disheartening,” said Govoni, whose count of non-town employees at the meeting equaled 16. “People complain a lot about the budget, but no one shows up to talk about it. I think some of it is apathy and I’d like to hope that some of it can be attributed to residents being happy with the budget. Sometimes people only show up when they are dissatisfied, but for council and school board members, it helps when people show up and say, ‘Hey, we think you are doing a good job.”
Warrant articles included $170,000 in Parks and Recreation program offerings and applying $200,000 in unappropriated funds against the Municipal Budget for 2014-2015.
Windham residents vote during Saturday’s nine-minute-long annual town meeting.
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