Town meeting scheduled for June 2

There will be 28 articles on the warrant for Town Meeting on Tuesday, June 2, including a $113,389,515 town operating budget for Fiscal Year 2027. 

The first seven articles approve funding from the Community Preservation Committee, including one that could determine the future of a home at 4 Tannery Lane.

There are a number of articles appropriating funds from past years and one budget to another.

The Capital Planning Committee report has recommended allocating $1,175,000 to a number of projects such as approving town budgets. Surplus revenue would cover the police department, school department, Department of Public Works, General Government and Parks and Recreation. Retained earnings would be used for the sewer and solid waste enterprise funds. 

The operating budget will be used to fund various expenses, including salaries and compensation for schools, public safety, public works, community services, general government, debt services, benefits and insurance. 

The total budget has risen $4,889,483 since Fiscal Year 2026, with money coming from property taxes, state aid, local receipts, overhead/indirects and more.  . All department costs have risen except for debt, which lowered by $54,782. 

A number of articles cover funding enterprise funds; $2,465,407 for solid waste, $8,063,044 for the water department, $7,528,573 for the sewer department, $620,468 for Dartmouth Cable Television and $445,638 for the Waterways Management Commission. These are funds that are supposed to be self-sufficient with revenue covering costs annually. 

There is an article to approve allocating $178,309 from the Full Day Kindergarten Stabilization Fund to cover the deficit in Dartmouth Public School’s Fiscal Year 2027 budget. This is about half of the Fund, which was set up when full-day kindergarten was introduced. 

If passed, the Dog Hearing Officer article would allow the town to appoint someone outside of the Dartmouth Police Department to be the “hearing authority” in cases involving dogs, such as when a dog attacks someone. 

An article changing how much time residents will have to clear snow after a snowstorm will also appear at Town Meeting. Rather than having two hours after snowfall to shovel, property owners would have 24 hours after snow fall to finish shoveling snow on sidewalks outside their properties. Failure would result in a $25 fine, or $300 for properties within one mile of a school. 

There is an article to ban cryptocurrency ATMs in town. The FBI has warned that a majority of crypto sales happen online, and these machines are often scams. If passed, shops with these ATMs would have 60 days to get rid of them. 

The final typical article will extend veteran’s benefits. This would make them exempt from property taxes in certain cases. 

Town Meeting will be held in the auditorium of the Dartmouth High School at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, June 2. The High School is located at 555 Bakerville Road.