MEXICO – Residents went to the polls Thursday for a second vote on the Mexico Rec Department budget, this time passing the amended budget by a mere nine votes.
By 230-221, the vote on the special, single-issue ballot poll attracted more people than the June 12 town meeting referendum when a higher rec department budget was soundly turned down, 209-158.
On a workshop held on July 10, the Board of Selectmen decided to present a second recreation budget to citizens, this one close to $30,000 less than the $144,100 figure that was defeated at the June 12 secret ballot vote.
At the same July 10 meeting, the Budget Committee voted to recommend that the town go with the result of the first vote, which would have reverted the recreation department to the 2011-12 budget figure of $93,585, about $21,000 less than the $114,842 selectmen are now recommending. Prior to that June 12 vote, the Budget Committee had recommended a rec budget of $106,811.
Included in the revised budget was setting Recreation Director Wayne Sevigny’s salary at the minimum state required for a 30-hour work week at $455 per week or $23,660 for the year, plus $2,869 for workmen’s compensation insurance. He would not be eligible for health insurance.
Also included in the reductions was cutting new equipment by $7,000, reducing the reserve account from $14,000 to $5,000, and taking $1,600 from custodial for the rec building.
By contrast, the June 12 budget figure rejected by voters represented a 54 percent increase over the $93,585 approved for 2011-12. The more than $50,000 added to the Recreation Department account had been earmarked for building and park repairs, a Recreation Department reserve fund, and nearly tripling Sevigny’s salary to $30,000 as a fulltime director from a 20-hour per week position.
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