Meredith School Taxes

Sunbeam lodge · 03-05-2010, 06:48 PM

http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll...828/-1/CITIZEN
Interesting article. 6000 Meredith residents, 1000 in Center Harbor and 1000 in Sandwich. Only 6% of voters at meeting and 300 from Sandwich. As the budget increase was only passed by about 300-400 votes and 300 voters were from Sandwich it seems like Sandwich is determining what I pay in taxes. Obviously the majority of voters were teachers from Sandwich. But as a proponent of the increase said the increase was only" 4 Big Macs per $1000 of valuation. If you lived on the water in Meredith that could be 100-150 big Macs. What ever happened to majority rules. I guess by voting when part time residents are not available you can get something accomplished.

twoplustwo · 03-05-2010, 08:45 PM

If Sandwich banded together to support their school and the voters of Meredith sat on their collective rear ends and allowed it to happen, they have no one to blame but themselves. My bet is the vast majority of those Meredith voters who didn't show up were right on their couches in Meredith, watching the boob tube.

A cheap Jet Blue flight in to vote would be worth the lack of paying for 150 Big Macs, wouldn't it?

fatlazyless · 03-06-2010, 03:25 AM

Losing the sixth grade Sandwich Elementary School class was simply not acceptable for many people in Sandwich and it got them stirred up and they all got together, into a big long line of cars, and together drove down to the annual March, Tuesday night school meeting, held at the high school gym in Meredith, and exercised their individual votes. The gym was packed with the biggest crowd in memory. As a cost saving measure, the School Board had recently proposed for the Sandwich sixth grade to be merged in with the other SAU-3 elementary school located in Meredith, down below the high school. That would no doubt increase the number of sixth grade students in the classroom.

In March 2008, Meredith town SB-2 received 57.5% vote, and SAU-3 (Meredith-Center Harbor-Sandwich) school SB-2 received about 48% vote. In March 2009, town SB-2 received about 55%, and school SB-2 received about 46%. In the March 9, 2010, Tuesday elections, there are no SB-2 warrant votes to consider that would change either Meredith or the school administrative unit from a town meeting to an all day 7am-7pm vote on warrant articles. A 60% majority is needed to change the form of government from town meeting to ballot voting.

If the town meeting were held on a Saturday morning, it would be a lot more available than a 7-pm Tuesday town meeting with the actual vote held at about 11-pm.

At the March 2009, Meredith Town Meeting, a proposal was successfully put forward to change the town government from a town meeting to an exotic hybrid that's neither town meeting or SB-2, and freezes out the voting for SB-2 until March 2011 at the earliest, and indefinately & permanently, if the hybrid style is approved.

As far as I know, only one other town out of the 199 New Hampshire towns has converted to this exotic hybrid form of town government. Here in Meredith, it was welcomed as a stopgap to SB-2 by folks who oppose SB-2 because they assume with SB-2 and its' inherent increased voter accessibilty that a 50% majority would probably vote NO to any property tax increasing proposals and nothing such as a police station, community center, fire station, athletic fields, skateboard park, tennis courts, or large pedestrian bridge from the cc to the fields would ever get proposed, built, purchased, or improved when the town voters have the increased 7am-7pm vote accessability provided by SB-2.
.....

In case you were wondering, the new 2009, $850,000 Meredith 100' aerial-tower fire truck was decided and approved at a Monday, September 2008, monthly selectmen's meeting with all five voting YES.

Sue Doe-Nym · 03-06-2010, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twoplustwo

If Sandwich banded together to support their school and the voters of Meredith sat on their collective rear ends and allowed it to happen, they have no one to blame but themselves. My bet is the vast majority of those Meredith voters who didn't show up were right on their couches in Meredith, watching the boob tube.

A cheap Jet Blue flight in to vote would be worth the lack of paying for 150 Big Macs, wouldn't it?

You sure got it right! Get out and vote on important issues like this. Same thing could happen at Moultonborough School Meeting next week when some parents try to put money back in budget. People will have every excuse in the world for not attending and then complain about more out of control spending !

03-05-2010, 06:48 PM	#1
Sunbeam lodge Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Meredith/Naples Florida Posts: 367 Thanks: 135 Thanked 50 Times in 26 Posts	Meredith School Taxes http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll...828/-1/CITIZEN Interesting article. 6000 Meredith residents, 1000 in Center Harbor and 1000 in Sandwich. Only 6% of voters at meeting and 300 from Sandwich. As the budget increase was only passed by about 300-400 votes and 300 voters were from Sandwich it seems like Sandwich is determining what I pay in taxes. Obviously the majority of voters were teachers from Sandwich. But as a proponent of the increase said the increase was only" 4 Big Macs per $1000 of valuation. If you lived on the water in Meredith that could be 100-150 big Macs. What ever happened to majority rules. I guess by voting when part time residents are not available you can get something accomplished.

03-05-2010, 08:45 PM	#2
twoplustwo Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Moultonborough Posts: 456 Thanks: 51 Thanked 39 Times in 21 Posts	seems to me majority did rule If Sandwich banded together to support their school and the voters of Meredith sat on their collective rear ends and allowed it to happen, they have no one to blame but themselves. My bet is the vast majority of those Meredith voters who didn't show up were right on their couches in Meredith, watching the boob tube. A cheap Jet Blue flight in to vote would be worth the lack of paying for 150 Big Macs, wouldn't it?

03-06-2010, 03:25 AM	#3
fatlazyless Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 8,529 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 296 Thanked 957 Times in 698 Posts	Losing the sixth grade Sandwich Elementary School class was simply not acceptable for many people in Sandwich and it got them stirred up and they all got together, into a big long line of cars, and together drove down to the annual March, Tuesday night school meeting, held at the high school gym in Meredith, and exercised their individual votes. The gym was packed with the biggest crowd in memory. As a cost saving measure, the School Board had recently proposed for the Sandwich sixth grade to be merged in with the other SAU-3 elementary school located in Meredith, down below the high school. That would no doubt increase the number of sixth grade students in the classroom. In March 2008, Meredith town SB-2 received 57.5% vote, and SAU-3 (Meredith-Center Harbor-Sandwich) school SB-2 received about 48% vote. In March 2009, town SB-2 received about 55%, and school SB-2 received about 46%. In the March 9, 2010, Tuesday elections, there are no SB-2 warrant votes to consider that would change either Meredith or the school administrative unit from a town meeting to an all day 7am-7pm vote on warrant articles. A 60% majority is needed to change the form of government from town meeting to ballot voting. If the town meeting were held on a Saturday morning, it would be a lot more available than a 7-pm Tuesday town meeting with the actual vote held at about 11-pm. At the March 2009, Meredith Town Meeting, a proposal was successfully put forward to change the town government from a town meeting to an exotic hybrid that's neither town meeting or SB-2, and freezes out the voting for SB-2 until March 2011 at the earliest, and indefinately & permanently, if the hybrid style is approved. As far as I know, only one other town out of the 199 New Hampshire towns has converted to this exotic hybrid form of town government. Here in Meredith, it was welcomed as a stopgap to SB-2 by folks who oppose SB-2 because they assume with SB-2 and its' inherent increased voter accessibilty that a 50% majority would probably vote NO to any property tax increasing proposals and nothing such as a police station, community center, fire station, athletic fields, skateboard park, tennis courts, or large pedestrian bridge from the cc to the fields would ever get proposed, built, purchased, or improved when the town voters have the increased 7am-7pm vote accessability provided by SB-2. ..... In case you were wondering, the new 2009, $850,000 Meredith 100' aerial-tower fire truck was decided and approved at a Monday, September 2008, monthly selectmen's meeting with all five voting YES. __________________ ... down and out, liv'n that Walmart side of the lake! Last edited by fatlazyless; 03-06-2010 at 06:05 AM.