Preview of Lenox's annual metropolis get-together

When: 5 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Lenox Memorial Middle and High School, Soccer Field, 197 East St.

To mark: After the pandemic freeze on city spending and home tax increases last year, proposed municipal and school budgets show moderate increases. The preliminary tax burden for homeowners is estimated to average around 2.5 percent. The planning of several investment projects, which was postponed from the previous year, requires borrowing at the current low interest rates. The budgets prepared by Chief Administrative Officer Christopher Ketchen and the Schools Department were approved by the Select Board and the Advisory Finance Committee. But education expenditure was only approved 4: 3 by the finance committee, as several members were concerned about rising personnel costs.

Agricultural Regulations: The planning committee – with the support of the Select Board – is proposing a constitutional revision that regulates commercial farming, neighborhood and commercial farm stands and allows the rearing and keeping of backyard chickens for personal use in residential areas of less than 5 acres.

Modernization of sewage treatment plants: Voters are asked to approve $ 3 million towards the permanent construction committee design and engineering costs required for a federally mandated environmental remediation of the city's sewage treatment plant. Since the approval requires borrowing, two-thirds approval is required. The total cost of the project could reach $ 20 million in the coming years.

Public security facility: To replace an obsolete police station and central fire station, funding a $ 2.1 million planning and construction plan for a new building requires a two-thirds majority. The location has not been determined. The total cost of the project could be up to $ 15 million in the coming years, depending on land acquisition costs.

Repairs to the city library: It will take $ 1 million in funding for design, engineering, repair, and construction to cover the Dome Room ceiling, although nearly half of the cost should come from a government grant and other funding sources. Two thirds of support is required.

Repairs to the town hall: Planning, engineering, and construction costs for repairs to the roof, dome, and building, valued at $ 750,000, would be borrowed if two-thirds vote in favor.

The mountain farmhouse: The Edith Wharton House Museum has proposed purchasing the decaying Laurel Lake 1906 farmhouse property jointly owned by Lee and Lenox. The farmhouse, which is part of Edith Wharton Park, would be restored by The Mount if two-thirds of town council voters in both parishes and two-thirds of state legislatures approve it. The revised proposal reduces the parcel to be transferred to less than 1.4 hectares, with the two cities keeping most of the coastline within the public park.

BUDGET

Operating budget: $ 11,300,000 (up 4.6 percent)

Lenox Public Schools: $ 14,390,040 (up 3 percent)

Total operating budget: $ 25,674,755 (up 4 percent)

Total city spending: $ 29,004,401 (up 1.8 percent)

Tax allocation: $ 16,407,437 (up 2.5 percent)