WELLFLEET — Voters whose thumbs are sore from opening their wallets will find relief at this year’s annual town meeting, scheduled for May 20 at 6 p.m. at the Wellfleet Elementary School.
The 35-article warrant contains no Proposition 2½ overrides or debt exclusion votes — a major departure from recent town meetings, which have relied on property tax increases to fund the budget after accounting problems left the town without any certified free cash from 2019 to 2023.
For the second year in a row, free cash was certified at $4.5 million, according to interim Town Administrator Tom Guerino. (Guerino is currently in discussions with the select board to finalize a three-year contract to become the town’s permanent administrator.)
Two large financial requests — a $4.5-million debt exclusion to pay for a dredging permit and an override to fund a finance director position — were also removed from the warrant after the town meeting was delayed by a month because of the departure of key town staff in February. The delay meant the override requests would have appeared on the ballot at the annual election on April 29 before they could be presented on town meeting floor, a sequence that the select board did not find advantageous.
But the hiatus in override votes is not likely to last long. At its April 26 meeting, the select board voted to schedule a special town meeting on June 17 and an election the next day to see if the town will authorize the purchase of the Gestalt International Study Center for municipal offices (see story on page A8).
As for the other two overrides, select board chair Barbara Carboni told the Independent that “there has been no discussion” about putting either the dredging permit fee or the finance director articles on the upcoming special town meeting warrant.
Financial Articles
Article 1 on the May 20 warrant funds the operating budget for fiscal 2025. This year, town hall relied on the help of Eastham Finance Director Rich Bienvenue (at a contracted rate of $150 per hour) to help develop the budget.
The $31.3-million budget is up 7 percent from last year. Roughly half of the $2.6-million capital budget will be funded through this year’s free cash.
Big ticket items include $350,000 for an HVAC upgrade at the fire dept., $250,000 for beach restoration planning, and $250,000 for wastewater planning.
Voters will also be asked to sign off on $55,000 to fund the town’s part of an expansion of Wi-Fi service to Cahoon Hollow, White Crest, and Lecount Hollow beaches — a public safety measure for beaches with sharks and no cell phone service, according to proponents.
The town’s capital stabilization fund will receive a $442,500 infusion of free cash, and another $400,000 will go to the general stabilization fund, which was drained at 2021 town meeting to fund that year’s operating budget. Another $500,000 of free cash will go to the Affordable Housing Trust.
A further $1.66 million in free cash will roll over into next year’s free cash tally. (Last year, the town left $2.6 million in free cash unspent, which contributed to this year’s $4.5 million total, Guerino confirmed.)
Article 9 would increase the maximum property tax reduction allowed under the town’s senior workoff abatement program from $750 per qualifying recipient to $2,000.
Article 10 would establish a spending limit of $76,000 for the shellfish revolving fund, which was set up to fund shellfish dept. propagation efforts, including the seeding of quahogs and oysters. The fund is replenished with shellfish grant revenues and permit fees.
Article 11 would establish a sewer enterprise fund for fiscal 2025, which according to the warrant article would allow the town to be competitive in grant applications as it moves forward with its wastewater plans.
Community Preservation Act
There are eleven Community Preservation Act (CPA) articles on this year’s consent agenda, totaling $1.5 million to be used for affordable housing, outdoor recreation, open space, and historic preservation.
Four housing-related articles include $750,000 for the Wellfleet Affordable Housing Trust, $175,000 to aid in the construction of four Habitat for Humanity homes on Old King’s Highway (to “defray unforeseen costs” after the project was steeped in a decade of lawsuits), and $7,500 for the Community Development Partnership’s Lower Cape Housing Institute, which offers education and technical assistance to town officials.
Article 18 would allot $20,000 toward a 45-unit affordable housing complex in Brewster being developed by Preservation of Affordable Housing and the Housing Assistance Corporation.
Two conservation projects include the establishment of a land conservation fund intended for the purchase of open space, maintenance projects, and creation of trails. The conservation commission requested $150,000 in CPA money to establish the new fund.
Another $25,000 would fund the removal of a dilapidated structure at 360 Blue Heron Road. The property is in a sensitive lowland marsh and was donated to the town for conservation, but the structure must be removed first, according to the explanation of Article 19.
Article 22 would allocate $200,000 to help the Cape Cod Modern House Trust purchase and restore the home of renowned Bauhaus architect and artist Marcel Breuer. The house would be the first property the trust owns outright — other architecturally significant houses in Wellfleet are leased from the National Park Service.
Petitioned Articles
Article 27 would establish a scholarship program to help eligible Nauset High School graduates from Wellfleet with the cost of college. Financial need would be assessed through a standardized federal financial aid form, and the scholarship could be renewed annually if the student maintained good grades.
The article requests $100,000 but does not specify a funding source. The select board voted unanimously not to recommend the article.
Carboni told the Independent that “there are a number of local private organizations that offer scholarships for which Wellfleet students would be eligible. Given the many budget demands on Wellfleet taxpayers, it does not seem appropriate or the right time to ask them to fund this.”
Petitioned Article 28 calls for “an enduring ceasefire” in Gaza. According to its proponents, similar resolutions have been voted in Somerville, Cambridge, Medford, Northampton, Amherst, Melrose, Greenfield, and Easthampton.
A copy of the petition, if approved, will be sent to members of Wellfleet’s Congressional delegation and to President Joe Biden. The select board voted to endorse the measure, with chair Carboni voting to abstain.
Petitioned Article 29 supports a state bill, “Medicare for All in Massachusetts,” which would create a single-payer health care system for Mass. residents. According to the warrant article, Wellfleet spends 13 percent of its payroll on employee and retiree health insurance, so passage of the legislation would save the town over $500,000 annually.
The bill is currently in the hands of the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing, which last held a hearing on it in November 2023.
Finally, Article 30 is a home-rule petition asking the state legislature to let the town regulate the use of toxic pesticides on public and private property. It would not limit the sale of pesticides but would allow the town to levy fines for the use of pesticides not on the town’s allowed materials list. Eastham adopted a similar petition at its town meeting on May 4.
