Lebanon's split budget vote propsal is soundly defeated

The split budget vote proposal last night was soundly defeated by 151 votes against the change to 48 votes for making the change. The proposal was for the town government budget and the education budget to split and for each one to be voted on separately.  It was clear throughout the night that people were not as supportive of the change as the advisory vote last fall indicated. Many people at the meeting were confused as to why we needed to make this change when there are advisory questions as part of the ballot already. Many people commented that this was an attempt to segregate the education budget in an attempt to make it harder to pass. Supporters of the change tried to convince voters that they would have better control over the budget by going with this system but most were very concerned that this would lead to more confusion and came away unconvinced. Those who supported the change could not convince the majority that this change would improve the process of approving the budget. This is why it was soundly defeated.
Ron Cowles also managed to cause a paper ballot to be used instead of the usual voice vote. It is his contention that there are many people attending town meetings from other towns and then voting on the town business. There is no evidence that this has happened nor that is it a current problem. It did lead to long delays as everyone had to wait in line to vote.