CHATHAM – A study of large aircraft use of Chatham Airport, the residential tax exemption and what is hoped will be the final appropriation to cover the renovation and expansion of the Center for Active Living are among the chief topics voters will address at the annual town meeting Monday.

 The 61-article warrant also includes funding for several waterfront projects, a half dozen petition articles and authorization for the Monomoy Regional School District to borrow money to pay for a new $11 million for the Monomoy Regional Middle School.

 Scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. May 11 at the Crowell Road middle school gymnasium, the meeting’s lengthy warrant will be reduced in size by a 24-article consent calendar. Moderator William Litchfield noted that any voter can request that an item be removed from the consent calendar.

 The warrant is frontloaded with budget authorizations. The town operating budget came in at $47,295,970, a 4.7 percent increase over the current year. Chatham’s share of the Monomoy School District’s $51 million budget is $11,737,053, a 5.56 percent increase. The water department is seeking $5,703,016, almost all of which comes from water rate revenues, while the $2,440,500 capital budget, covering expenditures such as equipment, maintenance and road repairs ranging in cost from $10,000 to $250,000, comes from free cash (surplus funds left over from the previous year expenditure of which doesn’t add to the tax rate).

 Article 15 seeks $200,000 from free cash to supplement the $5 million appropriated last May for the renovation and expansion of the Center for Active Living. Officials decided to work with the existing building on Stony Hill Road after failing numerous times to secure funds to build a new facility at a different site. Because the article includes an easement on the neighboring property, it will require a two-thirds vote to pass (see accompanying story for details).

 It seems as if a town meeting doesn’t go by without a controversial airport article. This year it’s Article 29, which seeks $7,500 in free cash as the town’s share of a design aircraft study. Most of the projected $142,500 cost of the study will be borne by the Federal Aviation Administration, with the state kicking additional funds. 

 With operations by design group 2 aircraft — planes with wingspans greater than 50 feet — exceeding 500 (each operation is a separate takeoff or landing) annually over a five-year period, the study will determine if any safety measures must be taken to accommodate the aircraft, which are larger than the small craft the airport was originally designed for. Current operations, airport geometry and safety will be examined, and the results could change the airport’s design aircraft, according to the airport commission. No physical expansion of the facility is possible, according to the commission, but the study may point to changes that could be made to ensure safe operations, such as the way planes queue to take off.

 The commission is also seeking $17,500 as the town’s share of $682,500 to upgrade navigation equipment at the airport. Last year voters turned down the expenditure.

 While the residential tax exemption (RTE) itself is not before town meeting, two articles address different facets of the proposed tax relief. The select board voted in December to endorse a 20 percent RTE and will take a final vote to implement it in September.

 Article 31 seeks $500,000 from free cash to fund the assessors overlay account, out of which abatements and exemptions anticipated to arise from the RTE will be funded. Late applications must be honored, thus the need for additional overlay funds. 

Year-round property owners can apply now for the RTE. Based on a state formula (which can be found in detail on the assessors’ webpage), the RTE will reduce the assessed value of the 44 percent of Chatham residential properties owned by year-round residents, and thus result in lower property taxes. Nonresident owners will end up paying a slightly higher rate. Not all year-round owners will receive the exemption; some trusts and other forms of ownership may not qualify, nor will renters be eligible. Because of Chatham’s seasonal community designation under the state Affordable Homes Act, the select board could vote an RTE of up to 50 percent.

The select board backs the RTE as a way to provide year-round residents with some financial relief from the town’s high cost of living, especially housing. The finance committee wants to delay implementation of the RTE, and Article 56 would advise the select board to put it off for a year while more study is done. Fincom members see the RTE as too broad; all year-round property owners can qualify, no matter their income level. They want more time to determine if there is a more targeted approach to property tax relief, such as a means test, as well as looking at the impact on town finances. While the fincom unanimously backs the article — which is nonbinding — the select board voted 3-2 not to support it.

Article 35 also aims at helping year-round residents, specifically renters. The Lease to Locals program, which the article would establish, requests $312,500 from the attainable housing reserve fund to provide subsidies to landlords to encourage them to rent to year-round residents. The goal is to increase the stock of year-round rentals and provide an incentive for owners not to turn homes into short-term rentals.

Citizen petition measures include Article 57, which would establish a new town bylaw requiring the select board to prepare and present at a public meeting a full regulatory analysis before adopting provisions of Massachusetts General Laws; Article 58, to reduce the interest rates on tax deferred accounts; Article 59 would combine tax title and tax deferred accounts into one account at a single interest rate; Article 60 would subject owners of private wells to the same emergency restrictions applied to properties on town water; and Article 61, which would adopt a local option allowing an affordable housing tax exemption.

Several capital expenditures are on the warrant. Article 11 would authorize the Monomoy School District to borrow $11 million for a new roof at the middle school. Chatham would be responsible for an amount established in the regional district funding formula, currently at 22 percent. With 37 percent of the cost anticipated to be reimbursed by the state, Chatham’s share of the $8 million local cost will be approximately $1,845,000.

The town is also seeking $280,000 from free cash in Article 18 for new financial software, as well as $2.3 million to paint and repair the 1.25-million-gallon water storage tank in Article 20; because the money will be borrowed, a two-thirds vote is required. Floor replacement in several town buildings will cost $475,000 (Article 21), while $400,000 for dredging is sought (Article 22) as well as $200,000 for the town’s childcare voucher program in Article 23.

Two waterfront infrastructure articles are on tap. Article 16 seeks $2 million for the replacement of the Barn Hill landing bulkhead, while Article 17 asks for $3.5 million to replace the bulkhead and boat ramp at Ryder’s Cove. Both amounts will be borrowed and therefore require a two-thirds vote.

More than a dozen community preservation articles seek funds for restoration of the harbormaster’s building and radio towers at the Marconi property, new beach signs and restoration of Kate Gould Park.

Several community preservation requests center on affordable housing. Two are likely to be particularly controversial: Article 41, which seeks $100,001 for the Pennrose affordable housing development at the Buckley property; and Article 42, which seeks $400,000 for the Pennrose Meetinghouse Road development. On a split vote, the select board opposed both, while the finance committee was deadlocked 3-3.

Childcare is available for ages 3 and up; reservations must be made by emailing smabile@chatham-ma.gov. Transportation can also be arranged by calling the Center for Active Living at 508-945-5190. Both reservations must be made by noon on May 8.

Article 5 Consolidated Revolving Funds

Article 6 Wood Waste Revolving

Article 7 Rescind Borrowing Authorizations 

Article 10 Monomoy Regional PEG Transfer – TV studio

Article 12 Cape Cod Tech

Article 21 Floor Treatment Replacements 

Article 22 Dredging

Article 23 Childcare vouchers

Article 24 OPEB

Article 26 Expendable Trust Fund – Retirement 

Article 30 PEG Cable Access 

Article 36 CPC – Administration

Article 37 CPC – Reserves

Article 40 CPC – LC Housing 

Article 43 CPC – Harbormaster 

Article 45 CPC – People’s Cemetery 

Article 46 CPC – Mack Monument 

Article 47 CPC – Beach Signs 

Article 48 CPC – Frost Fish Creek 

Article 49 CPC – Mill Pond Overlook 

Article 52 Utility Easement

Article 53 MGL c. 59, §5, Clause 22 G

Article 54 MGL c. 59, §5, Clause 22 I

Article 55 MGL c. 59, §5, Clause 22 J