Tisbury voters will be asked to take an important step on the way to addressing the town’s burgeoning problem of unfunded liabilities for its retired workers, at a special town meeting Tuesday night.

A recent report on the problem by Jon Snyder of the town finance and advisory committee estimated the town’s unfunded liability for post-retirement benefits — largely health care — stands at some $19.5 million. Mr. Snyder further estimated the liability for all the Island towns and regional entities at almost $90 million.

Article seven on the warrant seeks authorization to petition the state for the establishment of a new trust fund to hold money to pay these future entitlements. The fund also would cover other former government workers within Dukes County.

The idea behind the article, which was submitted by the Dukes County Commissioners, and unanimously recommended by the finance committee, is that by pooling their resources, the various entities can reduce management fees and achieve better returns on their money.

The article would petition the state to pass a special act which would allow “government employers in the County of Dukes County [to] at their sole discretion appropriate funds in order to offset the anticipated cost of premium payments for, or direct payments to, retired employees and the eligible surviving spouses or dependents of deceased employees.”

It further provides that any government employer, by vote of its “applicable legislative authority” – boards of selectmen in the case of towns — could join at any time after the trust fund’s creation.

If town voters approve the article, it will be an important first step, but the more difficult decision will come a week later at the annual town meeting, when they have to decide how much money to put away.

The finance committee, at Mr. Snyder’s urging, has recommended $1.56 million, an amount which would require a sharp increase in property taxes — Mr. Snyder calculated $302 on a $500,000 home.

If voters approve the request, it will then go to on the ballot at the annual town election on April 28.

The special town meeting warrant includes 14 other articles, ranging from amendments to the dog leash bylaw and the election of a new fish committee to approval of the layout for the planned new connector road between the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven and State Roads.

Among the more significant are:

• A request to amend town bylaws to provide for civilian flaggers at road works sites.

• A request to extend the wastewater system to include the Tisbury School.

• A request to authorize selectmen to negotiate with unions an apprenticeship program for the Department of Public Works to create an “upward mobility track” for unskilled employees toward filling skilled positions.

• A request to formally establish a town of Tisbury water department, and allow selectmen to petition the state to formally recognize it. The article has emerged as part of the settlement of a long-running turf war between the selectmen and the water commissioners.

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at the Tisbury School.