Plymouth: Date set for meals tax referendum

Plymouth Town Clerk Lawrence Pizer reported to the Board of Selectmen last night that the petition drive to hold a special election concerning the meals tax was successful. The tax, that was approved at the recent town meeting, is intended, in part, to pay for the town’s 400th Anniversary Celebration. Pizer said: “I recommended January 14th for a date for a referendum on Article 29, the meals tax,and they voted unanimously to support that.” Pizer also discussed a polling place for precinct 15: “I recommended that we locate precinct 15 — the new precinct – starting on January 1, at the Stonebridge Club in the Pine Hills.” Selectmen Matt Muratore, who said he was unhappy with the cost of the election, now estimated to be about $33,000, questioned if it could be combined with the annual spring town election. Pizer explained that it could not because that would not meet the requirements of the town’s charter. The charter directs a small period of time in which such an election can be held; and waiting until spring would not meet the spirit of the charter.