Rehoboth Selectmen Order 20 Percent Budget Cuts, Set August 7 Special Town Meeting

REHOBOTH -- July 21, 2014, Rehoboth selectmen order across-the-board 20 percent budget cuts after override failure. The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously Monday to direct all town departments, including police, fire, highway, and the library, to submit 20 percent budget reduction plans by Friday noon, following voters' rejection of a Proposition 2½ override by roughly 55 to 45 percent, with about 3,000 votes cast out of more than 8,000 eligible. The board set a special town meeting for Thursday, August 7 at 7 p.m. to adopt a revised fiscal year 2015 budget, with the warrant signed and sent to the printer that evening. Selectman Joe Pacheco said the result "is not the reality for next year, that's the reality going forward," while Selectman Skip Vadnais framed the directive as a "pruning process" affecting "no one unit more important than the other." The board also approved a 20-year landfill solar lease at $20,000 annually with 2 percent yearly increases and a $10,000 signing bonus, accepted with regret the resignation of nine-year veteran Patrolman Keith Perry, who is leaving for a position in Seekonk, and received a 145-signature library petition from the Rehoboth Antiquarian Society seeking a standalone budget article at the special town meeting.