Setting a tax rate...Winchendon

Quorum of 75 needed

Katie Landeck
News Staff Writer

WINCHENDON — Seventy-five voters will need to attend Winchendon’s Special Town Meeting on Monday night in order to have the quorum necessary to proceed with finalizing the town’s budget.

The purpose of the meeting is to balance the town’s books for fiscal year 2013 and 2014, which currently show a deficit of more than $200,000. The budget needs to be in the black before the Department of Revenue can set a tax rate.

“Anything that falls short of accomplishing that, would not be successful,” Town Manager James Kreidler said. “If we don’t get the tax rate set, we have no budget.”


In Mr. Kreidler’s tenure of more than 13 years as town manager, Winchendon has only failed to make a quorum once. Last October, fewer than 75 voters attended a Special Town Meeting to balance the budget. The meeting was postponed until November 2012, at which point 105 voters attended — allowing the meeting to take place.

Officials said consequences could be severe if history repeats itself, as the state revenue department must see the balanced books by Dec. 31 in order to set the tax rate. A town cannot issue its property tax bills without a set tax rate, according state documents. Without the source of revenue, Winchendon runs the risk of going broke, according to Mr. Kreidler’s comments at the Dec. 16 Board of Selectman meeting.

The town has advertised the special meeting on its website, with posted street signs and at each public meeting. Additionally, an e-mail about the meeting has been sent to everyone who subscribes to the town’s mailing list.

Even with the publicity, officials still have concerns about making quorum at a meeting slated for the night before New Year’s Eve.

“I think anytime you call a special town meeting, there is concern,” said Mr. Kreidler.

The warrant for the town meeting offers solutions to a $160,000 deficit in snow and ice removal and a $53,000 deficit in Veterans benefits. Additionally on the warrant, is an article seeking to find funding for the sick leave buyback for retired former town Assessor Linda Bevan.

Residents will also have an opportunity to weigh in on competing articles for how to utilize $64,453 of unused Medicaid Reimbursement from fiscal years 2011 and 2012.

While Mr. Kreidler has proposed appointing the funds back to the town to cover a school transportation deficit. the Winchendon School Committee has submitted a series of their own articles outlining alternative ways the monies might be spent. Committee members are requesting the funds be redistributed back to the schools as free cash and used to cover the cost of boiler repairs.

For residents who wish to attend, according to local officials Monday’s special meeting is currently slated to start at 7:15 p.m. inside the Murdock Middle/High School auditorium.