Official votes show Freeport residents approved purchasing a new fire ladder truck but passed on buying a property near Town Hall.
Residents are so far rejecting the purchase for 22 Maine St. — the first local referendum question on the ballot, with 2,919 voting no and 2,745 voting yes. Freeporters showed overwhelming support for second question to purchase a new fire ladder truck, with 4,127 yes votes and 1,567 no votes.
On Question 1, voters had to choose whether to authorize the Town Council to issue bonds of $500,000 to purchase the undeveloped, three-quarters of an acre lot at 22 Main St., which neighbors Town Hall and is often the site for Makers on Main and other artisan events. It sits across the road from the public safety building.
The funding would have had an increase the town’s indebtedness from $507,200 to $1 million, according to the Freeport treasurer’s financial statement in the election warrant. The statement also estimated that the total cost of the proposed bond would come with nearly $60,000 of interest with an estimated 3.87% interest rate for a five-year term.
On Question 2, Freeports decided to adopt an ordinance that allows another bond for the $1.5 million to be issued a new fire ladder truck. Though the Town Council did not formally weigh in on the 22 Main St. bond, it voted unanimously to recommend this ordinance adoption.
The treasurer statement noted that, with this question, the town’s indebtedness will jump to over $2 million, if authorized. With an estimated interested rate range of 3.5%-3.87%, the bond would come with an estimated interest cost of $293,000 for a 10-year term.
The initial debt balance of $507,000 for the town to pay off is for bike and pedestrian trails near the DOT Freeport Bridge project by exits 20 and 22 off Interstate 295, which is scheduled to be completed in 2025. The initial bond for this debt was secured in 2021.
Jessica Maloy, the finance director for the town, said that any approved bond payments will be incorporated into the general fund budget. She confirmed that there would be a tax increase to the taxpayers. The current millage rate for the fiscal year (which runs from July 2024 to June 2025) is $13.35 per thousand dollars of property value.