At the annual Canterbury town meeting, residents will vote on a budget that would likely cause a tax increase and consider whether they want to take the first steps in withdrawing from the Shaker Regional School District.
If voters approve the $3,105,081 operating budget and all warrant articles on Friday night, the total cost would be about $4 million.
The operating budget is about $200,000 more than the town’s 2021 budget, with increases in funding for the library, Fourth of July celebrations and town loan payments, among other things.
If all items are approved, it translates to an additional $400 in taxes a year for a Canterbury resident living in a $300,000 home.
Whether the town’s $1.2 million reserve is used to minimize tax hikes will be determined by the board of selectmen later this year.
Residents will have the opportunity to vote on whether the town should purchase a new firetruck, which would be funded via grants instead of taxes, and whether to spend about $41,000 on paying off the Gold Star Bond.
Canterbury took out the bond in 2005 to purchase a property that once belonged to a struggling sod farm and prevent developers from transforming the land, with important conservation properties, into a housing development. The town resold the property to Brookford Farm and will finish paying the bond in 2025.
Town residents will also vote on a petitioned warrant article that would instruct the school board to evaluate the feasibility and sustainability of withdrawing from the Shaker Regional School District.
“Canterbury has a small student population and is surrounded by towns that offer more options … within a closer proximity and at a potentially lower cost,” the article reads.
A similar effort to pose the question at the Shaker District meeting failed to make it on the ballot in February.
The meeting will be held at Canterbury Elementary School, 15 Baptist Road.