Taxpayers of New Salem: The town of New Salem at the June 6, 2023 Town Meeting voted to appropriate $616,000 (subject to exemption from provisions of Proposition 2½) to purchase a pumper truck for the Fire Department. If this 2½ override passes our already high real estate taxes will increase. The cost and future maintenance of a truck like this can not be justified. The Fire Department serves an important function in any town. When we call 911 we want a response. The town of New Salem is a participant in mutual aid agreements with neighboring towns. Often when mutual aid is requested our good neighbors respond faster than a volunteer department like New Salem. Larger neighboring towns have full-time staff and the needed equipment to manage a fire. New Salem is too small a town for a truck that costs this much. A truck that will continue to cost the taxpayers in future maintenance, interest and insurance. Please vote “no” on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023 at the Old Library, 24 S. Main St., from 11:45 am to 8:00 pm on a debt-exclusion for a new pumper truck for the Fire Department.

W. Michael Yohan

New Salem