$29M in spending on August 19 ballot
As election day nears, the Town Clerk’s office is emphasizing key dates; vote-by-mail ballots and info guides will go out this week.
Voters have one more chance to make their voices heard on nearly $29 million in proposed town and school spending. As election day nears, the Town Clerk’s office is emphasizing key dates.
Concordians will head to the polls on August 19 to approve or deny borrowing $27.5 million for a five-year road maintenance project. School officials also want $1.42 million for Acton’s share of a proposed bathroom building on the Acton-Carlisle High School campus.
Both measures passed at Town Meeting, where they needed a two-thirds majority. This time, they need only a simple majority.
The Select Board finalized ballot language last month. Vote-by-mail ballots and voter information guides will go out the week of July 29, according to the clerk’s office.
The registration deadline is August 8 at 5 p.m., and the deadline to request a mail-in ballot is August 12 at 5 p.m. In-person early voting will run from the time ballots arrive until noon on August 18.
More information is available at concordma.gov/375/elections-voting.
Turnout in post-Town Meeting special elections has fluctuated in recent years. Last summer, 18% of voters cast a ballot as the town approved a permanent senior tax break. In 2023, the last time voters considered taking on new debt in a special election, 28% turned out and the town approved extra funding for the new Acton Middle School.
The most recent low-water mark came in 2017, when only 5.41% of voters settled two questions about landfill site remediation and a temporary senior tax exemption.
