Debt: doubts, delay

Duxbury petitioners force revote on spending

Petitioners in Duxbury have put the brakes on a plan to spend $350,000 to repay town debt — at least for now.

Voters will weigh in once again on the plan, which calls for spending $70,000 a year for five years to repay the debt.

Voters initially approved the measure, along with six other articles, during a special town meeting May 10. But a petition calling for rescission garnered the 53 signatures necessary to force a revote.

The petition was filed last Friday with 64 valid signatures, according to Town Clerk Ken Scott. It was presented to the Duxbury Select Board Monday night.

The town must now schedule a new vote, which will be preceded by a public meeting on the matter. As of press time, the date had not yet been scheduled.

The debate

The petitioners are concerned about ongoing confusion regarding the town’s finances. They want to know exactly how much debt Duxbury has.

Is it $338,486, as the town claims?

Or is it $110,344, as a former town auditor argues?

Or is it even lower, now that the town has received a $40,000 refund from the Washington West Supervisory Union?

There is also confusion over the wording of the original article, which read, “Shall the voters of the Town of Duxbury appropriate the sum of $70,000 to be applied to the outstanding debt of the town?”

Opponents think the question misled voters by suggesting the town government was seeking to spend only $70,000, as opposed to the total sum of $350,000.

Booklets distributed to residents at the meeting May 10 explained that the select board was proposing to borrow a total of $338,486, which would be repaid over a five-year period in $70,000 increments.

The town arrived at the $338,486 figure following an audit conducted earlier this year by Bonnie Batchelder of Batchelder Associates. But former town auditor Bill Yacavoni disputes that amount.

The discrepancy stems from a line of credit Duxbury has with Merchants Bank to help pay for repairs to damage caused by flooding in 2011.

The town was reimbursed for most of those repairs by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but it still owes $228,000 on the line of credit.

According to Yacavoni, that $228,000 is included in the town’s $110,344 end-of-year budget deficit for 2013 and should not be counted as additional debt.

Yacavoni said he looked at the general fund balance sheet included in the Batchelder audit, showing a total of $536,940 in reported assets and prepaid expenses, compared to $647,284 in liabilities, resulting in a $110,344 deficit.

“The $228,000 line of credit is already part of the $647,284 liabilities and the $110,344 deficit, not in addition to it,” Yacavoni said.

But select board chair Dick Charland has continued to stand by the Batchelder figures.

The revote

The new meeting and vote must take place within 30 days of when the petition was filed on June 6.

At the meeting, the petitioners hope to hear from both Batchelder and Yacavoni in person, at the same time, so a more informed decision can be made.

Neither of the auditors spoke at the meeting May 10. Batchelder was on vacation and was not in attendance. Yacavoni was there, but was not allowed to speak because he’s not a resident of Duxbury.

During the meeting, a vote was held on whether Yacavoni should be able to weigh in, but he did not get the two-thirds majority needed to allow a nonresident to speak.

To overturn the original vote, voters must approve the rescission article with a two-thirds majority.

Stay tuned to the Waterbury Record for updates on the date and time of the next public meeting and rescission vote.