ROYALSTON – At this Saturday’s Annual Town Meeting, voters will determine whether funding for a number of different purposes gets approved.

Town Meeting takes place on Saturday, June 10, 10 a.m. in the second-floor auditorium at Town Hall, 13 On the Common. A total of 22 articles make up the warrant.

Article 15 seeks approval for a Proposition 2½ debt exclusion allowing the town to borrow $196,000 to pay for several items for the police and public works departments. The Police Department is seeking $61,000 for the purchase of a hybrid cruiser, while the DPW wants $55,000 for a hydraulic heavy-duty lift system for the town garage, as well as $80,000 for a vibratory roller and trailer with dust control. Vibratory rollers are used to compact newly-applied asphalt to road surfaces.

If the article passes at Town Meeting, a special election would be held so voters can decide on the borrowing plan in the form of a ballot question.

Town officials are also asking for approval to raise and appropriate $38,600 to cover the first payment of a $310,000 debt exclusion approved at last year’s Town Meeting for a pickup truck and a dump/sander cab and chassis for the DPW, as well as funds for painting and repairs to Whitney Hall.

Article 9 seeks approval to raise and appropriate approximately $49,000 to make the eighth payment of a 35-year loan for the town’s wastewater treatment plant. The following article asks voter approval to raise and appropriate just over $100,000 for operation of Royalston’s wastewater treatment plant and sewer system.

The FY24 town budget of nearly $2.7 million being presented to voters represents an increase of about $110,000 over the current fiscal year. Of the total, $723,000 is committed to Royalston’s assessment for the Athol Royalston Regional School District, with nearly $77,000 for its assessment for the Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School District. While the Monty Tech assessment is about $19,000 higher due to increased enrollment from Royalston to the Fitchburg school, the town’s assessment for the ARRSD tops the FY23 figure by only $2,600.

The line items for wages in both the police and fire departments show increases over FY23 - $11,000 and $3,500, respectively – and voters will notice a decrease of nearly $20,000 in public works salaries. This is due to the fact that town officials have decided to reduce the DPW workforce by one position.

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.

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