Pepperell Sets August 13 Town Meeting, August 28 Vote on $375,158 School Override

PEPPERELL — July 23, 2012 — Pepperell selectmen set a $375,158 school district override vote for August 28 after a failed spring referendum. The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously at its July 23 meeting to schedule a special town meeting for August 13 and a special override election for August 28, one day before the school year begins. Town Administrator John presented a corrected financial breakdown showing Pepperell's certified assessment to the Nashoba Regional School District at $11,115,158 against a spring appropriation of $10,740,000, leaving the $375,158 gap; an earlier figure of $798,000 was described as an error that failed to account for a $117,000 debt-exclusion reduction. The override would add roughly $0.33 to the tax rate, costing the owner of a median Pepperell home assessed at $301,105 about $99 per year. The board also authorized Town Clerk Jeff Sawyer to use manual hand-crank ballot boxes for the August 28 election only to limit costs, and voted unanimously to purchase one Dodge Charger cruiser and one Ford Taurus administrative sedan under state contract.