Yarmouth town meeting convened Saturday morning at the Mattacheese Middle School
YARMOUTH – Yarmouth town meeting voters easily passed a $570,000 override to fund their share of the Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School budget Saturday morning.
Yarmouth’s portion of the spending plan has continued to increase at a faster rate than Dennis in recent years, due in part to higher enrollment numbers.
Under the current funding formula, Yarmouth’s budget share increases as their enrollment goes up.
Town meeting voters approved the override, despite recommendations against the move from the Yarmouth selectmen and finance committee.
Brian Carey, a Dennis member of the regional school committee, explained the reasons for the increased budget, pointing to a hike in health care costs and the loss of certain grants.
“You’ll see insurance of $479,595, an increase of 5.5% from last year,” Carey said.
Carey also reminded Yarmouth residents that a previous town meeting voted to change the way the two towns fund the school budget, moving from a regional agreement to a statutory formula.
Carey said if the old regional agreement had still been in place, Dennis, and not Yarmouth, would be facing greater increases.
Michele Conover, a Yarmouth member of the school committee voted against the final budget number during their budget debate, but said she would support the spending plan on the town meeting floor, asking that both towns work toward finding a long-term solution.
“Moving forward however, I am confident that the Yarmouth school committee members and the Yarmouth selectmen will work directly and closely together to develop a budget that everyone can support,” said Conover.
Fellow school committee member Andrea St. Germain said it was the obligation of the residents to pay what was needed for the schools.
“We’re not asking for more because we want more. We’re asking for more because our children and grandchildren must be served,” St. Germain said.
Yarmouth Finance Committee Chairman Joe Goldstein said an enrollment shift toward Yarmouth will continue for several years. He called on both towns negotiate a new agreement that would be more equitable for Yarmouth.
Carey reminded the town meeting voters that it was not Dennis that chose the current formula and they shouldn’t be blamed for the increased costs.
Former Yarmouth Selectmen Jim Saben criticized Yarmouth officials for dragging their feet for years and not negotiating a change in the formula.
The school override still needs approval at the ballot box later this month.
In other action, Yarmouth town meeting voters approved $2.6 million for their portion of the Cape Cod Regional Technical High School budget.
They also passed the town’s $37.5 million operating budget that Selectmen Jim Quirk said was balanced.
“This budget is based upon a reasonable revenue estimate and does not rely on one-time funding sources to pay the recurring services and expenses,” said Quirk.
After a brief debate, the town meeting approved a moratorium on the establishment of recreational marijuana shops in Yarmouth.
Article proponent Chris Greeley said having a timeout was critical.
“There are a lot of issues that are going on right now. The state can’t event determine how they’re going to determine the oversight of this issue,” said Greeley.
Supporters of the article said passing the measure would allow the state to complete its work on regulating commercial marijuana shops.
Massachusetts voters legalized recreational marijuana last November.
Preservation Act projects, including the rehabilitation of the Baxter Grist Mill dam and sluiceway, Taylor Bray Farm archaeological examination and repairs to the Kelley Chapel roof in Yarmouth Port.
A zoning change what will allow limited home occupations to be conducted won approval. The article covers work such as wood working, cooking for farm markets and quilting and sewing.
An article that will ban the use of single-use plastic bags easily passed.
The entire warrant was completed just before 2 p.m.
By MATT PITTA, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
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