NEWRY — Town meeting voters Tuesday turned down giving a 2 percent discount to people who pay their taxes within 30 days of billing.
Selectmen had recommended against the discount, noting that it would require raising $55,000 in taxes to carry it out. The discount has been given in past years.
About three dozen voters attended the meeting, the second in two months as the town transitions from a calendar fiscal year to a year that runs from July 1 to June 30.
Residents approved all of the other articles as recommended on the warrant. Among them are:
• $167,200 for capital improvements (road paving and a new veterans’ monument);
• $180,734 for debt service (from last year’s Sunday River Road improvement work);
• $158,660 for highways and bridges;
• $71,160 for operation of the Fire Department;
• $143,200 for Tri-Town Solid Waste;
• $40,079 for assistance to community organizations, including $5,000 for the regional Heart & Soul project;
• $287,719 for administration and salaries;
• $11,706 for cemetery maintenance;
• $5,800 for Grange Hall maintenance;
• $10,500 for operation and maintenance of the municipal building (Town Office); and
• $2,105 for digitizing of town tax maps and revising paper maps.
The meeting, which lasted just under an hour, was moderated by David Duguay.
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