Voters OK Souhegan school district budget
> AMHERST – Voters in Amherst and Mont Vernon supported the cooperative school district budget on Tuesday, approving the $17.58 million figure by an unofficial count of 1,813- 1,564.
Residents also voted in favor of the Amherst school portion, the town budget and every other article on Town Meeting Day, with two exceptions.
In total, 3,001 of registered 8,867 Amherst voters cast a ballot at Souhegan High School.
The cooperative school district total budget is $17,583,870, or a decrease of 10 cents per $1,000 of assessment for Amherst residents. In Mont Vernon, the budget was supported 230-213, while Amherst residents favored it 1,583- 1,352.
Meanwhile, the Amherst School District budget of $24,597,380 was favored 1,660-1,275. Its passage represents an increase of 26 cents per $1,000 of assessment.
Regarding the town budget, voters opted to pass the $12,896,109 figure 1,890-987, according to the unofficial results. It will add $139 per year to the tax bill of the average residence in town.
Voters also supported an article that would raise $1 million ($450,000 from town taxpayers) and place it in a fund operated by the Amherst Conservation Commission toward the purchase of 227 acres of undeveloped land between Spring, County and Upham roads. The vote was 1,878-984.
Only two articles, in fact, failed Tuesday: Article 32, which related to a maintenance garage construction project, and Article 40, which would have amended zoning laws to permit noncommercial sports and recreation uses in all parts of town. The latter failed 1,842-972.
In the race for the vacancies on the Souhegan Cooperative School District, Dwayne Purvis (1,386 votes) and Stephen W. Coughlan (1,360) won the pair of open three-year terms over Margaret McCabe (1,169) and Bob Brewster (969), while Peter Maresco defeated Mike Akillian 1,510-1,015 for a one-year seat.