[fatlazyless]

"Voters wll decide on the $18,399,208 budget during the school district hearing on March 5." Erin Plummer, Laconia Daily Citizen, Feb 8, 2008
.............

So, it is highly likely to be approved, as probably the people who chose to show up to Inter-Lakes High School tonight at 7pm and vote have a strong interest in their schools, which is certainly understandable.
.............

The vote on SB2 for the Interlakes School District that includes Meredith, Center Harbor, and Sandwich, as well as SB2 for the Town of Meredith is to be held on Tuesday, March 11, all day, 7am-7pm, at the Community Center, as far as I can tell.

As I understand it, if either of the SB2 warrants, for the town, or the school, passes with a 60% vote, super-majority, on Tuesday, March 11, it would change the voting format in the future so that the town and school vote would be held at an all-day vote at the Community Center as opposed to an evening or late night hearing with the actual time for voting determined by the hearing moderator.

So, the number one main change that SB-2 creates is that it increases the number of voters who show up and vote. It makes voting more accessable to town & school district residents by having a 12 hour polling place, absentee voting, a secret paper ballot, and daytime hours.

Regardless to whether SB-2 gets approved or not, your Meredith property tax bill for June 2008 is said to be increasing by four to eight percent over what you paid in December, 2007. And, how do you like them apples?

....................

from Laconia Daily Sun, Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Inter-Lakes board staying out of SB-2 fight; meeting tonight

By Adam Drapcho

MEREDITH - Charting a very different course than other Lakes Region school boards, the Inter-Lakes School Board has declined to take a formal position on the SB-2, official ballot, issue.

Board Chair Jack Carty said the board understands its responsibility to be confined to issues of education, be it educational budget, philosophy, or facilities. Because the SB-2 proposition - brought forward by a citizens' petition - does not directly affect education, Carty said that ball is in the court of the legislative body: the voters.

"How the voters go about the manner in which they chose to vote is the responsibility of the voters."

He said individual board members are free to discuss their personal views in a private setting, and he declined to offer his view for publication.

The SB-2 issue will be discussed, but not voted on, at the annual school district meeting tonight at 7 at Inter-Lakes High School. The question will be decided on by voters at town voting March 11. A 60-percent majority will be required for passage.
''''''''
Adam Drapcho, Laconia Daily Sun, 3/5/08
.........


.........