Essex Select Board Closes 43-Article Warrant With $698,196 Override Question

ESSEX — March 24, 2025 — Essex Select Board closes 43-article Annual Town Meeting warrant anchored by a $698,196 Proposition 2½ override. The board voted unanimously Monday to add, close, approve, and sign the warrant after Finance Committee Chair Jody Harris confirmed the Manchester Essex Regional School District's fiscal year 2026 apportionment to Essex rises to $10,776,959 — an increase of $887,203 over last year's $9,889,756 — with the committee directing roughly half of the town's new levy capacity, about $189,000, toward the school and leaving a $698,196 override question for voters. The board also adopted a new firefighter and EMT wage scale topping out at $32 per hour, adding a provision that firefighters with at least 15 years of service qualify for that rate regardless of certifications, and approved a $41,900 joinery contract with Jeffrey Kelly Custom Woodworking for a new Centennial Grove restroom facility. Health insurance rates for active employees came in at a 19.92 percent increase for fiscal year 2026. Harris told the board the Finance Committee projects potential overrides "for the next two, three years" based on current school and town cost trajectories.