By Alex Malm
During the Dec. 19 Town Council meeting, Town Manager, Mike Malaguti, announced they were working on the language for some of the warrant articles this year including the possibility of a warrant article in regards to Lions Hall.
Malaguti explained they would likely be looking for guidance from the Department of Revenue Administration and their legal counsel as to whether or not they can put a multiple choice question on the ballot.
He said they are also working on wording a warrant article question regarding the funding of first responder positions, something that was proposed by Town Council Chairman, John Farrell.
“Those items are in process,” said Malaguti.
Malaguti said he envisions the point of the multiple choice questions to see what people in the community think of the Lions Hall and what direction they want to go in. It would essentially ask voters to what extent they want to see done to the building.
Farrell stated he thinks it would be good to hear from the community on the issue.
“I think we need to get a clear direction from the people of the community of how they want to see the building being used going forward,” said Farrell.
Town Councilor, Deb Paul, said instead of a warrant article they could have a survey conducted online that would only allow them to vote one time per IP address.
Malaguti said he thinks there’s a benefit to polling the people who are then likely to turn out to vote on the financial question.
Farrell said they could potentially do both and his biggest concern is moving in a direction with the building.
“My only concern is that the building doesn’t sit for multiple years,” said Farrell.
Also during the meeting, Malaguti gave the Town Council an update regarding their elderly property tax exemption.
He said he met recently with Finance Director, Justin Campo, and the Town Assessor, Steve Hamilton, about work being done to take “a fresh look” at the criteria for the elderly tax exemption as well as the exemption amount.
“I’m pleased to report that Steve is hard at work analyzing income and asset limits to make sure those are keeping up with inflation,” said Malaguti.
Malaguti explained they were planning to come to the Town Council with a recommendation on Jan. 9.
He said people are going to start applying for the tax exemption and they want to get ahead of it so people know what to expect.
As far as the amount for the elderly tax exemption, Malaguti said they would be looking to have a recommendation for this summer.
“That is something we are targeting for, later in the spring, early in the summer,” said Malaguti.
The next Londonderry Town Council meeting is slated to take place on Jan. 9 at 7 p.m.