Littleton Select Board Advances Special Town Meeting Warrant, Pulls CPA Tax Increase

LITTLETON — September 18, 2023 — Littleton Select Board and Finance Committee recommend special town meeting warrant articles totaling hundreds of thousands in new spending. Meeting jointly on September 18, the two boards recommended articles for a November 1 special town meeting that include $250,000 from the ambulance reserve fund and $175,000 from capital stabilization to buy a replacement ambulance, an additional $385,000 for the Shaker Lane School Building Committee feasibility study after the Massachusetts School Building Authority revised its cost guidance upward from $700,000 to roughly $1.25 million — with the extra appropriation carrying no state match — and $400,000 from capital stabilization for design and feasibility work at 36 King Street. Finance Committee member Steve Munno made a detailed case against recommending a CPA surcharge increase from 1 percent to 2 percent, citing the town's failure to follow its own policy requiring a joint long-range spending plan and a looming multi-million-dollar annual debt service burden for a potential new Shaker Lane school; both boards reached consensus to withdraw the article, committing to develop a spending plan before revisiting the increase. A potential purchase of the 36.5-acre Webster property off Bulkley Road at $1.6 million — against a town appraisal of $630,000 — was held for a follow-up joint meeting September 26 pending Town Counsel's opinion on whether Community Preservation Act funds can be used when a purchase price exceeds the appraised value.