Voting Information About the Field School

In a few days the town of Weston will be asked to support the building of a new Field School.  Here are some important dates as well as facts to consider before voting.

Dates:

• November 10, 2011 – the deadline for requesting an absentee ballot at the clerk’s office in Town Hall.
• November 12, 2011 – the day of the voting at Town Hall from 8:00am till 6:00pm.
• November 14, 2011 – the night of voting at the Special Town Meeting held at Weston High School in the auditorium, 7:30pm.

The Issue:

• The town must borrow money to build a new Field School.
• The amount of money needed to service the debt requires an increase more than 2.5 percent in tax revenue.
• To move forward with the new Field School Project, the town needs a majority vote by ballot, followed by a two-thirds majority vote at the Special Town Meeting.  This is a two-step process: ballot & meeting.
• The town is requesting $31.5 million to build a new Field School.
• The state (MSBA) will pay up to $8.6 million towards the new school.
• The remaining amount of $22.9 million will be paid by Weston tax payers via property taxes.  
• Taxpayers with homes assessed at $1.3 million would expect to see an average increase of $266 annually over 20 years.
• Voting “YES” will approve the plan to go ahead with a new Field School.
• Voting “NO” will block or delay the Field School Project.

Facts to Consider:

• If the current project is not approved, we will lose up to $8.6 million funding from the state.
• It took approximately two years to obtain the state funding.
• The current Field School needs upgrading of the roof, windows, heating system and much of the brick facade.  Renovating the existing building will trigger state requirements for newer renovated buildings.
• To bring the current school up to code will cost millions of dollars.