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.