The Mason School District Deliberative Session was held Saturday February 4, 2012.
There were 48 voters present (5 on the Board, 43 in the audience). No amendments were proposed and the budget was approved as presented after a small amount of discussion.

There has been much interest and some confusion surrounding the School budget. I was looking for an answer to my question of "how much do we pay for our School system and how is that changing from year to year". To help answer that question I have prepared tables which show the actual dollar amounts charged to Mason's taxpayers "NET School cost to taxpayers" for the School Budgets for the 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-2013 school years.
This NET cost to taxpayers is more useful than "Tax rates" which mingle and confuse the effects of changing property valuations with changes in budgets. For example an increase in Town valuation can decrease the Tax Rate without changing the actual NET taxes raised, and vice-versa.

The PROPOSED 2012-13 Mason School District Budget as presented at School Board budget hearing January 9, 2012, can be found on the Schools page in PDF format.
The 18-slide PowerPoint presentation shown at the meeting is now available on the same page as a .ppt file and in a web-based version.

The PROPOSED 2012 Town Budget as presented at the Selectmen's Budget Hearing on January 3, 2012, can be downloaded as:

2012_01_03_Proposed_Budget.pdf (PDF 80 KB) or

2012_01_03_Proposed_Budget.xls (Excel Spreadsheet 2.7 MB)

the 2011 Tax Warrant (PDF 224 KB) has been updated to reflect the entire year's tax bills rather than just the estimates for the first half-year bills.

From Barbara DeVore, Conservation Commission, December 3, 2011: "Big Cats Survey Form" (PDF 80 KB) used to report Mountain Lion / Cougar sitings in Mason.

From Garth Fletcher, December 3, 2011: I have updated my "Historical Taxation in Mason" spreadsheet to cover 1972 through 2011.

Downloadable eBooks and Audiobooks on the New Hampshire Downloadable Books website are available to Mason residents with current library cards.
Downloads to your computer, mobile device, Kindle, iPod and other compatible devices

Site address: http://nh.lib.overdrive.com    Follow the instructions for first time users.
Prefix 4175 to your library card number,   e.g., your library card number #nnn = nh downloadable number: 4175nnn
For more information, call the Library 878-3867

from Sue Wagner, Town Clerk: tax rate
2011 tax rate is     $24.33 per thousand
2010 tax rate was $21.64
2009 tax rate was $18.75

from Trish Cross: Mason Playgroup meets Wednesdays at the Mason Town Hall 9:00 - 10:30am. Meet other families and share fun times!

Contact Information:
Trish Cross : 603-318-1898 cell     Trish@joustinghill.org email
join the mailing list masonNHplaygroup@yahoogroups.com

Special October 1, 2011, Town Meeting voted NO to putting a warrant article on the ballot for March 2012 to make the Road Agent an elected position. Vote was 31 Yes and 90 No

School bus routes and school menus are posted on the website at www.sau89.k12.nh.us

The Conservation Commission has just released new maps of the invasive species in Mason.

The Snowmobile Club has volunteered to provide the labor to install a new deck on the Jackson Road trestle bridge as part of its program of helping maintain Mason's RR trail!
If you have any questions, please call Commission member Liz Fletcher at 878-2539.
The Snowmobile Club members have secured the Jackson Road trestle with plywood so it will be useable this Winter. A permanent deck replacement will be made next year.

2011 Tax Maps and Conservation Lands Maps are now available on Documents and Conservation pages.

Minutes of the Town Meetings for 1972...2011 can now be found on the Documents page.

Minutes of Selectmens' 2010 and 2011 meetings can now be found on the Selectmens page.

Planning Board Calendar for 2011, including application and notice deadlines, can be downloaded from here: 2011_Mason_Planning_Board_Calendar.pdf (PDF 132 KB)

2011-2012 School Bus schedules

Updated Planning Board Subdivision & Site Plan Regulations (2010)
    See Planning Board page

Updated Planning (Zoning) Ordinance (2010)
    See below or Documents page

Property Tax Relief Form DP-8:

From Barbara Milkovitz: here is the form for Low and Moderate Income Homeowners Property Tax Relief. This is through the State, not the town. The State usually sends the forms to anyone who's applied the previous year but, in order to save money, they are not sending any out. I got the forms off the DRA site. Time for applying is May 1st through June 30th.
New Hampshire Department Of Revenue Administration Low And Moderate Income Homeowners Property Tax Relief Form DP-8 (PDF 104 KB).

The Florence Roberts Conservation Commission programs are posted on the Conservation Commission page.

Susan Wagoner, Town Clerk & Tax Collector, forwarded some information about sources for assistance for homeowners who may be having trouble paying their mortgage or dealing with the bank.

The Mason Fire-EMS Department is in need of new members! For information see the Fire-EMS Department page.

Addresses, phone numbers, office hours & meeting schedules:

Town of Mason documents:

Town reports - for 2010 Town Meeting

2009 Town Report, 2010 Budget, 2010 Warrant

Town reports - for 2009 Town Meeting

2008 Town Report, 2009 Budget, 2009 Warrant, Minutes

Mason 2009 Tax Warrant. (.PDF 1.1 M)

Mason 2008 Tax Warrant. (.PDF 200 K)

PLANNING (Zoning) ORDINANCE, revised March 2010, file:MAS251-2010-1_ZN_BC_Ord_Gen_Info_amended_3_2010.pdf, 272 KB
Including: Floodplain Development Ordinance, BUILDING CODE (April 2004) and GENERAL INFORMATION: Emergency & Town Office Telephone Numbers, Map of Zoning Districts & Tax Maps, FEMA Flood Hazard Boundary Maps, and Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) Effective Date: September 25, 2009

Mason School Board: Budgets, reports, presentations, etc.

Mason Police Department: Pistol Permit Applications

Mason Fire-EMS Department: Fire Permits

Mason Planning Board:Subdivision Regulations, Site Plan Review Regulations, Master Plan, Subdivision Applications

Links to other web pages:

I have a personal web page concerning the issue of SB2 (Official Ballot) and Mason: Garth's SB2 page

The Mason Grapevine (Mason's local monthly newsletter)

Mason Internet Co-Op (MIC)

Mason Congregational Church

NH Tour Guide - interesting information about NH

Downloading tip: various web browsers handle PDF files differently. Some always download the file, others display its contents, and others try to display but fail - leaving a blank window.
You can force most browsers to download the file by using Option-click (Mac) or right-click (Windows) on the link instead of a simple click.