At Essex Town Meeting on Monday, March 2, residents are asked to vote on the municipal budget for fiscal year 2016, which begins July 1, 2015. The estimated increase in the net tax rate for the proposed FYE2016 budget is less than 2 percent over the current tax rate, or less than one penny. For the average $280,000 home, one penny on the tax rate equals $28 for the year. The proposed budget of $12,587,464 is $1,198,345 more than the current budget, a 10.5 percent increase.

Town Meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Essex High School auditorium. In addition to the budget, Town Meeting attendees will vote whether to accept the reports of the Town officers. Time is also being set aside for Public to be Heard.

Town Meeting will have two new features this year: a community dinner and childcare. Both offerings are free of charge. Dinner runs from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. and will include pasta, vegetarian marinara sauce, beef meatballs, roasted vegetables, bread, a salad bar, and dessert.

Childcare will be available at 7 p.m. and is open to any potty-trained child up to seventh grade. Space is limited. To make a reservation, register at www.essexparksandrec.org (Activity #127180 A), call the Parks & Recreation Office at 878-1342, or visit the office at 81 Main St.

On Tuesday, March 3, residents can visit the polls to elect a moderator and a Selectboard member. Ballots also contain an item asking if up to $800,000 remaining from the $6.9 million bond issued for the new police facility can be repurposed. The police facility, which opened last fall, was built on time and under budget. The repurposed funds would be used to bring the Town Offices at 81 Main St. into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and to rehab the building into a more efficient working space. Repurposing funds from the police bond will not have an impact on the tax rate. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Essex High School and Essex Middle School.

More information about Town Meeting is available on the Town website: http://www.essex.org/index.asp?SEC=FF08E5AB-D8DE-4E64-9986-7018FB6FB169&Type=B_BASIC

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Alpha Film Series at St. John Vianney Church

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SFM Winter Market in Historic Town Hall

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