School Projects Go to Wenham Ballot Vote Thursday

Wenham voters will get their say at the ballot box on Thursday about the second phase of capital improvements to the elementary schools in the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District.

The work includes replacing the boiler in the Buker Elementary School and a new boiler and windows at Winthrop Elementary School.

The work totals $3.17 million, with an estimated reimbursement of 43 percent by the Massachusetts School Building Authority, bringing the total cost to Hamilton and Wenham taxpayers down to $1.8 million.

Hamilton voters overwhelmingly approved the projects in a ballot vote last month - 262-65. The ballot votes comes after Town Meeting voters both approved the project at each town's Town Meeting in early November.

The work would be paid by a bond and the vote asks for a bond exclusion override, meaning the cost the bond would be kept outside the limits of Proposition 2-1/2, which limits the amount of taxes collected each year to raise by any more than 2-1/2 percent.

The spending, if approved, would  add $26.51 to the median annual tax bill in Wenham, according to information presented by School Superintendent Michael Harvey.

The polls will be open at Wenham Town Hall on Thursday, Dec. 12 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Because the work on each school is considered a separate project by the MSBA, voters will be asked to approve the work with two separate questions.