Scarborough residents next month will decide on seven amendments to the town charter, including pay raises for town councilors and school board members and the timing of school board elections.
If approved, the pay would increase by $1,000 to to $2,500 per year. Chairpersons’ pay would go up by $1,750 to $2,750 per year. The raises would not take effect for two years.
Voters also will decide whether to move Board of Education elections, currently held in November, to June.
Another proposed amendment raises the monetary cap on capital improvement projects and items the town can purchase without a referendum. Currently, a project or item costing more than $400,000 requires voter approval. The amendment would change that to $600,000.
Voters also will be asked to change the charter to include language that allows any elected or appointed official who suspects a fellow board or committee member of having a conflict of interest to request that they address that potential conflict of interest.
Other amendments include whether to extend the deadline for the town’s annual audit to be delivered to the council; whether the council, rather than the school board, should fill a vacancy on the board via a special election; whether to require the town to provide an itemized list of all capital assets over $100,000, with an estimated replacement schedule for each and an itemized statement of recommended capital investments over the next five years.
Voting will take place Tuesday, Nov. 8, at the Scarborough High School Alumni Gym, 11 Municipal Drive, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
