(Host) Voters in Middlebury will be going to the polls tomorrow to weigh in on a one-percent local option tax on rooms, meals, alcohol and sales.
The taxes would be used to pay for the construction of a new bridge across Otter Creek.
Middlebury College has pledged $600,000 for the next 30 years to help fund the project. The local option taxes are estimated to raise $700,000 annually, and would cover the town’s portion of the bridge.
In March, voters approved of a $16 million bond for the project, and approved a charter change to allow for the local option tax. That charter change was quickly approved by the Legislature.
Middlebury Select Board Chair John Tenny says he hopes the strong support from Town Meeting Day will continue:
(Tenny) “Now people have really moved on from this for the most part, we’re not seeing debate. At our last public information meeting, no one appeared. So I’m just concerned about getting people out to actually vote for it on Tuesday.”
(Host) Tenny says he hopes people will get excited enough about the bridge to come out and vote so construction can begin.
Gail Freidin is the director of the Middlebury Business Association. She says her 100 members are mostly supportive of the tax.
(Freidin) "I think there’s recognition that the project the town is trying to fund is a project that benefits people who are not necessarily residents of Middlebury, and wouldn’t be paying property tax in Middlebury. So it makes sense to spread the burden of paying for a bridge that would serve residents of a number of communities, it makes sense to engage the whole population in paying for that."
(Host) If the local options tax is approved it will go into affect on October 1st, and would sunset in 30 years. Town officials are already in the planning stages for the bridge, and they hope to begin construction in the spring of 2009.