The Oxford Board of Finance will meet tonight to discuss a proposed $3.1 million high school athletic field project, its fiscal impact on taxpayers and set a date for a public hearing on the plan.
The meeting will be held at 7 tonight (Monday, June 25) at the . (See full agenda on the town's website here.)
The proposal would bring a synthetic turf field to Oxford High School where athletes could play football, soccer or possibly lacrosse and field hockey if the school ever got those teams. It would also have a rubberized eight-lane track, surrounded by bleachers, lights and a press box. All told, the project would cost $3.1 million, First Selectman George Temple says.
The Board of Selectmen supports the project. Oxford Finance Director Jim Hliva said that if the town bonds the money over 20 years, it would cost an average taxpayer about $35 a year in additional taxes. .
Where the Proposal Goes from Here
Note: Brett Olbrys, who recently chaired an Oxford Charter Revision Commission, described the government process about where the project goes from here in the comments section on Oxford Patch. (See his full comment below in the comments field. In it, he refers to an error within the body of the article, which I have now fixed to say that the proposal first has to go to a public hearing. - Paul Singley)
At this point in the funding process for the field proposal, the Board of Finance is currently under item (D) of 6-10 of the Town Charter, which reads, "...the Board of Finance shall have thirty (30) days to meet and hold a public hearing on the funding of the project before it acts upon the request..."
Once the public hearing has been set, the BOF has to decide if it wants to "favorably recommend" the project to the Board of Selectmen. If the finance board "favorably recommends" the project, it goes back to the Board of Selectmen, which must then follow Section 6-11 of the Charter.
If the BOF does not "favorably recommend" the project, one of two things could happen (6-10G):
1) if the BOF did not like how it was being paid for and they provide an alternative source of funding for the project, it would go back to the BOS for their input and if the BOS agreed, the BOF would then have to approve the item, which would then move the item to 6-11 of the Charter.
2) if the BOF doesn't provide any alternative sources of funding, the project would be dead. If it dies, this would not preclude the BOS from bringing the item forth again, but the same process would start over once again from the beginning of 6-10.
Read article six of the Town Charter, "Finance and Taxation," here on the town's website.
