FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Grafton, New Hampshire – March 13, 2012 – The Mascoma Valley Taxpayer Union welcomed the news Wednesday morning that the $24M school bond had been rejected by voters once again. The vote totals were 1,807 in favor and 1,240 opposed. A three-fifths majority of voters was required to pass the bond, but only 59.3% had voted in favor.

In the week before the election, MVTU distributed a flyer to every household in the five towns of the Mascoma Valley Regional School District, notifying voters of the enormous tax impact this bond would have on them—property owners and renters alike—and urging them to vote against the bond. The flyer also reminded them of the brazen “scare tactics” that have been used to support the project over the past two years, and informed them of some extremely distasteful comments against local businesses made by one of the school proponents at a public meeting.

MVTU would like to thank all the voters who came out on Tuesday to oppose the bond, in particular, the residents of Dorchester, Grafton, and Orange, who voted most strongly against the bond. Had only a handful of them stayed home on Tuesday, this $24M boondoggle would have passed.

Dorchester voted most strongly against the bond, at 49–91, followed by Grafton at 215–304, Orange at 68–73, and Canaan at 624–440. Only Enfield achieved the necessary majority, at 851–332, which was 72% in favor.

In Dorchester, MVTU distributed their flier by hand rather than relying on the post office, ensuring that the flier got to residents on time. MVTU had received reports that several residents in Enfield did not receive the flier immediately, despite delivering them to the Enfield, Canaan/Orange, and Grafton post offices on Friday, March 8 and being ensured the fliers would go out in the mail that same afternoon.

One voter in Grafton suggested that if the users of the Mascoma Valley Regional School District really wanted this project, there is nothing stopping them from trying to raise the money voluntarily—or contributing it themselves.

MVTU had endorsed candidate Robert Constantine for the Grafton slot on the School Board, who had also made the concept of voluntary funding a central theme of his campaign. As a personal example, he refused to accept any of the taxpayer-funded compensation for serving on the School Board.

The Mascoma Valley Taxpayers Union (MVTU) is an organization set up by concerned citizens of the Mascoma Valley region of New Hampshire, in response to the ever-growing size of our local, school, and county budgets—and our ever-increasing property tax bills that result from this. Our mission is to oppose spending and tax increases in the Mascoma Valley, inform residents about anything that will result in higher taxes, and educate other concerned citizens on how to effectively fight these increases.

Contact:
Jeremy J. Olson
jeremy@jeremyjolson.com
Mascoma Valley Taxpayers Union
http://mvtu.eprci.com/
11 Neils Lane
Grafton, New Hampshire, 03240

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They want even more this year! Now it’s $23,815,015.00.

Once is never enough, it seems. If a massive boondoggle doesn’t pass muster with the voters the first time… Try, try again, right?

Last year they wanted $23,760,000.00. Now our school district is at it again, asking for $23,815,015.00. That’s an increase of $55,015. All for a school system that lost another 36 students this year!