Hello All ~ Happy May! – The Spring flowers are here, birds are back, and the leaves have popped ~ thank goodness Spring has arrived! If it is May, it must be Tax Day . . . as a reminder, quarterly taxes were due Thursday, May 1st ~ thank you.
ANNUAL TOWN ELECTION ~ THANK YOU!!! ~
THANK YOU, ALL ELECTION WORKERS, REGISTRARS, POLICE, FIRE, HIGHWAY, FACILITIES MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENTS, CONSTABLES, REHOBOTH POST OFFICE STAFF, TOWN CLERK’S OFFICE STAFF & VOTERS
Thank you, Rehoboth Reporter, for delaying the printing of the April Reporter to include the 4-1-25 Unofficial Election results. For official results, please check the town website under the Town Clerk’s 4-1-25 Election Results webpage @ https://www.rehobothma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif4911/f/uploads/4-1-2025-annual_town_election_official_results.pdf or view under news and announcements @ . https://www.rehobothma.gov/home/news/official-april-1-2025-annual-town-election-results Congratulations to all elected candidates. Thank you to all candidates who ran in the April 1, 2025 Annual Town Election!! Reminder: If you were elected or re-elected to a position and have not been sworn into office, please stop by the Town Clerk’s Office to take your oath of office. No elected or appointed official may take any action until they officially take their oath after being elected or appointed ~ thank you! I would personally like to thank the many people who participated in our April 1, 2025 Annual Town Election and for helping us make sure the election ran smoothly. From the Wardens, Clerks, Inspectors, Constables, Police, Fire, Highway & Facilities Management Departments, Registrars, Set-Up/Take-Down Crew, Rehoboth Post Office and Town Clerk staff, we were able to hold another successful election in our wonderful, centralized polling location in the Francis Farm Museum Building. Thank you for all your hard work. There is no way we could have an election without the wonderful help of you all ~ thank you for all you do for so many! Thank you also to Sara and Billy for the delicious Vinos meals. Thank you all for your support, time, dedication, and true passion of assuring our elections are run safely, professionally, securely, and expeditiously. The Town of Rehoboth is truly fortunate to have the entire Election staff working on their behalf. Finally, thank you to the 694 (6.42%) of 10,802 voters who voted in the 4-1-2025 Annual Town Election!
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ABSENTEE VS. VOTE-BY-MAIL BALLOT APPLICATIONS
As we noticed in the Town Clerk’s Office during the past election, there seems to be a lot of confusion regarding the absentee and/or vote-by-mail application process. Below are a few facts to keep in mind.
*You can vote by absentee ballot if you qualify:
OR you can Vote by Mail:
JUNE 3rd (Tuesday) ANNUAL TOWN MEETING
As you may remember from 2023’s Town Meeting, the Town voted to move the Annual Town Meeting from the second Tuesday in May to the first Tuesday of June; therefore, our upcoming Town Meeting will be held on June 3, 2025 at the Francis Farm Community Complex – Museum Building, 27-Francis Farm Road. Voter check-in will begin at 6:00 PM; Town Meeting will begin at 7:00 PM. You should receive your Town Meeting warrant in the mail from the Board of Selectmen’s Office, no later than May 27, 2025.
If you have any news you would like the Moderator to share with Town Meeting on June 3rd, please send to LSchwall@RehobothMA.gov ~ thank you.
The last day for Voter Registration, to be eligible to participate in the Annual Town Meeting, will be Saturday, May 24, 2025. The Town Clerk’s Office is available from 8:00AM to 5:00PM on May 24th to accommodate last-minute registrations. As always, if you would like to register to vote, or change your party affiliation, you may go to the Secretary of State’s Election Division any time, 24/7, by going to www.RegisterToVoteMA.com and complete the voter registration form online. However, if you were not registered by Saturday, May 24, 2025, you will not be able to vote in the June 3, 2025 Annual Town Meeting. If you would like to check your voter status (active or inactive), you may also go to:
https://www.sec.state.ma.us/VoterRegistrationSearch/MyVoterRegStatus.aspx and see if your registration is active along with what precinct you vote in.
ANNUAL TOWN CENSUS UPDATES
The Rehoboth Annual Town Census reflects our current population total, which as of April 1, 2025 is “officially” 13,204. That is decrease of 36 residents over last year’s “official” population figure of 13,240. After calls to households from our Registrars, we still have 405 census forms, out of 5,865 forms that were mailed in January, which have not been returned (Precinct I = 91 non respondents; Precinct II = 101 non respondents, Precinct III = 120 and Precinct IV = 93 non-respondents). Thank you to the 5,460 households (93.09%) who have returned their 2025 Town Census forms. For the remaining 6.91%, or 405 households, please send in your census/street listing forms as soon as possible ~ thank you. I anticipate the Street Listings being available in late May for those of you who would like to purchase them for $15. Please call our office before heading up to town hall to see if the Street Listings have arrived so you don’t waste a trip. I would like to thank Assistant Town Clerk, Kerrie Perkins, Administrative Aide, Jennifer Hose, Charlotte Castro and the Registrars Helene Vitale and Jenn Moitozo for your help with processing the 5,460+ census forms we received to date. We all had another busy and successful Census season ~ thank you all!
Please Note: If you received a second “street listing” request from our office, the first notice was your 2025 Census mailer, which arrived in each Rehoboth household during the first week of January 2025. The census mailer arrived with the Town 2025 calendar and various inserts (dog license, septic safety reminder and health/human services flyer); which was due January 31, 2025. If your census was not returned, by February, our Registrars called and left a message (LM on the 2nd notice) to please return your signed census as soon as possible. If we did not receive your completed census form in March, we mailed the 2nd request Street Listing with the Registrars comments for you to complete, sign and return. The first mailing was from our census printer, the second mailing was from the State VRIS computer, so they do look different but contain the same household information. We thank you for returning your completed census as soon as possible.
2025 DOG LICENSES
Dog licenses are due and payable on April 1st of each year. Thank you to the 1,621 dog owners who have already renewed their dog’s 2025 license. Any dog license not paid by May 15th will be assessed a $15.00 per dog late fee in addition to the license fee(s). Yearly we offer dog owners a grace period to pay their dog’s licenses without charging a late fee; however, we must now impose those fees effective May 15th this year. You may renew your dog license online (https://permiteyes.us/rehoboth/publichome.php ), by mail, or in person. Currently we have 756 dogs that are unlicensed; we hope to hear from their owners soon. Reminder postcards were sent to unlicensed dog owners the last week of April. If you received a postcard reminder, please renew your dog’s license as soon as possible and definitely by May 15th to avoid the late fees. Thanks so much!
Anyone having questions regarding any of the above information may call the Town Clerk’s Office at 508-252-6502, X3109, X3112 or X3110 or e-mail me at LSchwall@RehobothMA.gov . In closing, Kerrie, Jenn and I wish a Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms in Rehoboth. We also wish everyone a healthy and safe Memorial Day. Reminder, the Memorial Day Parade is scheduled for Monday, May 26, 2025. The Parade will start at 10:15 AM near the Anawan School & American Legion on Bay State Road, travel through the village and end up at the Veterans’ Memorial Gazebo, Redway Plain. Hopefully by Memorial Day the weather will be rain free and absolutely perfect. Most importantly, on Memorial Day, please remember to honor all those who made the ultimate sacrifice to secure our country and protect its citizens. Please have a happy, healthy and safe month of MAY! See you at Town Meeting in June.
~ Laura ~
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