Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont internship program for The Winooski News
WINOOSKI — Winooski residents said yes to everything on the city’s Town Meeting Day ballot, approving both city and school budgets, three bond votes and a new property for the school district.
Out of 5,173 registered voters, 901 voted. All ballot items passed by a wide margin.
Winooskians passed the city budget of $11,908,042.54 with a $9,319,065.79 increase in property taxes, with 662 votes for the budget and 221 against it.
Residents also supported Article 4, a measure that allows the city to repurpose available funds for the city’s benefit, 816 to 74.
All bond proposals passed, with residents taking varying positions.
Kevin Moyer, a Winooski resident voting in his third town meeting election, was opposed to all bond proposals on the ballot.
“We don’t have the money. We’re already crushing people with property taxes. I’m reading in Seven Days and other newspapers about how we’re going to do a one-time fix this year as a state to keep property taxes from rising too much, but we can’t do that again next year,” he said.
“We’re going to see 10% property tax increases again, and that is not sustainable. It’s going to be really hard for regular people to afford to watch their property taxes keep going up,” Moyer added.
But Greg Bonsignore, voting on Winooski Town Meeting Day for the fourth time, disagreed with this sentiment.
“I trust that they’re not just doing things without good cause,” he said. “Mostly today, I’m just looking for confirmation that we still live in a democracy.”
Winooskians voted in favor of renovating the Cascade Parking Garage elevator and installing the sidewalk on East Spring Street.
Resident Andrew Regan voiced his support for adding a sidewalk on East Spring Street.
“I live around the corner here on Leclair, and I’ve had a few incidents coming home late from work where I’ll almost hit somebody taking that right turn just because there’s no sidewalks there,” he said. “I know we’ve had some pedestrian deaths in the past year or two up here, so I think it’s super important to invest in that safety.”
Residents voted to pass Article 7, allotting up to $950,000 to upgrade City Hall and address an asbestos problem in the police department. The ballot item was the closest of the night, with 654 residents voting yes and 237 voting no.
All school ballot items got the stamp of approval from voters, including the $34,818,999 budget. Article 6, allowing the school board to purchase a property at 2 Normand Street with the previous year’s surplus, passed with mixed opinions.
Among those against the ballot item was Margaret Lesage.
“I feel like that’s not a good idea. They have plenty of room in the $60 million school we just built. They need to figure it out,” she said.
Closing out the night, Thomas Renner transitioned from interim mayor to mayor. Gearing up for his one-year term, Renner said he is ready to continue serving the city.
“We’ve done a good job for the past four years that I’ve been on council, and I definitely want to continue that as I move forward as mayor,” he said.