Little action prior to debt exclusion vote : Calm before the storm?
Published on November 25th, 1997
STONEHAM, MA - Unlike the Town Meeting vote last month, proponents and opposition to the $39.5 million elementary school renovation project are using the lowkey approach in the weeks leading up to the December 9 debt exclusion ballot question.
Townwide mailings, endless letters-to-the-editor and several public hearings dotted the political landscape in the weeks prior to the Town Meeting vote where the funds were appropriated to complete the eight-year project.
The overwhelming Town Meeting vote (540-60) was just the "appropriation" step in approving the project of which 63 percent will be reimbursed by the state.
The second step is "finding" the funds and, to do this, voters on December 9 will have to pass a debt exclusion question at the polls. The question will read "Shall the Town of Stoneham be allowed to exempt from the provisions of Proposition 2 1/2, socalled, the amounts required to pay for the bonds issued in order to
1) Renovate and add to Robin Hood School
2) Renovate and add to Colonial Park School
3) Construct a new South School
4) Construct a new Central School
If the debt exclusion question is approved, property owners can expect to see a yearly tax increase of 30 cents for each $1,000 of property value. Therefore, an average $200,000 home in Stoneham would pay an additional $60 a year in taxes for the next 25 years.
There is near unanimous agreement from parents and educators that schools like South and Central are in dire need of upgrades and all four elementary schools are feeling the effects of overcrowding.
Proponents of the project claim that since the state will reimburse the town 63 percent of the project's overall cost, it is a deal the town can't ignore. If the voters do not approve the debt exclusion question, school officials have said that $15 million in school improvements will be needed over future years--all of which would come out of the town's coffers.
Opponents of the project argue that this debt exclusion question comes while taxpayers are still pay-ing for a debt exclusion that is still on the tax rate from about 1990 and will not leave the rate until about 2002. They claim proponents of the question are incorrect in believing that taxpayers have grown accustomed to the 50 cent increase (from the previous debt exclusion) and the additional 30 cents will have a minimal impact on their wallets.
At this month's School Committee meeting, School Supt. Dr. Ellen Bueschel said she "feels good" about the upcoming ballot question.
"Although I am not over confident, I am getting positive feedback from the residents as I travel around town," said Bueschel. "We have just one more major vote to go."
Town Clerk Annamae Arsenault, who supports the question since Stoneham's window of opportunity for state reimbursement in limited, is estimating a turnout of about 4,000 on December 9.
It should be about the same as a regular local election," said Arsenault. "There appears to be about 4,000 people who are active in the community and are aware of what's going on."
Arsenault said the turnout could increase if an "opposition move-ment" were to pickup steam and bring out another 1,000 or so voters. There are 14,000 registered voters in Stoneham.
Arsenault pointed out that you can not use the large margin of victory at Town Meeting as any indication of how a ballot question will fare.
"Town Meeting is not necessarily a reflection of the general voting public, particularly the homeowners who could turn out on December 9," said Arsenault, who is surprised at the quiet approach taken by school renovation supporters in the weeks leading up to the election.
But if neighboring communities are any indication of how the ballot question will fare, supporters may want to increase their activity. Last week in North Reading, 70 percent of the voters rejected a $10.35 million debt exclusion question to renovate an 80-year-old elementary school. A debt exclusion question in Winchester for $29.7 million in 1996 to renovate three schools was also defeated. Winchester Town Meeting, however, turned around this year and borrowed less money, without use of a debt exclusion question, to refurbish their schools.
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