AMHERST – Outside of a couple of questions seeking to clarify the language in a warrant article asking voters whether to dissolve the Cemetery Lots Fund in favor of an expandable trust fund, about two dozen residents voted without comment at Thursday’s deliberative session to send all 12 articles as is to this year’s town ballot.

Amherst residents will now weigh in on the articles when they go to the polls between 6 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday, March 13, at Souhegan High School. They will also choose candidates for eight town offices, including two selectmen for three-year terms on the board.

Topping the slate of the six warrant articles that call for the appropriation of money was the proposed fiscal year 2019 town operating budget, which came in at roughly $13.9 million, a $452,500, or 3.37 percent, increase over fiscal 2018.

If voters approve all six money-related articles in March, it would raise homeowners’ property taxes by 46 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation, from $5.23 per thousand to $5.69 per thousand. For a home assessed at $352,000 – the average residential assessment in Amherst – taxes would increase by $162 per year.

Having the second-largest impact on property taxes is the article that calls for adding $257,000 to a capital reserve fund for the purchase and repair of fire and rescue vehicles.

If approved by voters, it would add $53 to the annual tax bill for an average home.

And if voters approve the article requesting $200,000 for police station renovations, the owner of the average home would pay $39 more per year in property taxes.

Another fund that, if passed by voters, would appropriate $115,000 for bridge repair and replacement, would add $24 per year to an average home’s tax bill.

All 12 warrant articles won the unanimous support of both the Board of Selectmen and the town Ways & Means Committee.

Selectmen agreed weeks ago that the police station is in need of expansion and renovations. Police Chief Mark Reams told the board during his presentation that the station’s last renovation was more than 20 years ago, and the department has since outgrown the facility.

Selectman Peter Lyon, a longtime police chief who retired in 2012, spoke in favor of the article on behalf of the board.

He noted that the department recently added a position, and that the town has seen a 13 percent decline in reported crimes over the past year.

Reams said earlier that plans call for the relocation of the cell block and booking area to the basement, which would keep prisoners separate from the general public.

That would also create space for much-needed sally ports, which would accommodate two police units at a time and give officers a secure area to transfer suspects into the building.

The ports, Reams said, are “a necessary feature in a modern police facility.”

Dean Shalhoup can be reached at 594-1256, dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com or @Telegraph_DeanS.