ATM 2019 resulted in some exceptional votes this year.

Before the meeting several of the articles we had expressed concerns about were withdrawn including the petitioned Right to Farm article, the petitioned ADU article and the related article to exclude the Seashore District from ADU provisions (which was no longer necessary).

The meeting involved 247 voters (or 13% of eligible voters) and numerous part-0time residents and non-voting staff. The big takeaways are these:

• Voters approved a FY 2020 budget of $20,089,615, a 1.94% increase over FY19 budget of $19,703,732.
• Voters also approved the purchase of the 70-acre Walsh Property at the bargain rate (in our view) of $5.1 million (aided by collaboration with the Truro Conservation Trust) and approved the cost of repairing Eagle Neck Creek culvert at $1 million, plus additional smaller projects totaling about $6.5 million in added overrides and debt exclusions. In the first year, these will result in tax increases of $146 for a median-valued property (median value is $618,000).
• The total amount of new tax obligations for FY2020 exceeds $26 million
• By vote, the Select Board must hold a public forum on the uses of the Walsh parcel before the end of June 2018 and appoint a committee to develop a plan for uses of the property. We anticipate part-timers will have a role in that formal process.
• Voters approved allowing the Town to seek special legislation permitting it to expand the 5C RTE to part-time resident taxpayers who will commit to renting their homes at market rates to year-round residents.  
• The actual tax rate will not be known until the tax classification hearing is completed in August/September, the number of full-timer applicants for the 5C RTE is settled, and the State approves the tax rate thereafter.
• Voters approved a non-binding resolution on Climate Change Action and a related committee will be established to advance this work.

See the TPRTA Spring 2019 newsletter for more detail and information.