Tax override talk on tap
Published on January 21st, 2004
STONEHAM, MA - With budget talks and override discussions expected to dominate tonight's Board of Selectmen meeting, whispers in town indicate that an override could be placed on the ballot as early as tonight.
While several selectmen asserted that endorsing an override initiative isn't planned for tonight, members of the board wouldn't rule out the possibility that a vote could take place.
"We'll just have to see what the board does. Who knows?" answered Selectmen Chairwoman Mary Pecoraro when asked if a vote for an override would happen. "The topic will definitely come up, but I couldn't tell you how the board is leaning," she added.
With few town officials seeming to know the exact protocol for an override, Town Counsel Bill Solomon will give an explanation as to how the process should unfold.
However, according to Town Administrator David Berry and Stoneham resident John DeGeorge, who has spoken to several state officials about override semantics, the Board of Selectmen have the ultimate authority to decide how and when an override will take place.
Berry and DeGeorge also agree that a town meeting can not vote to institute an override ballot, but can squash an affirmative vote on the measure by rejecting the budget.
"It doesn't have to go to town meeting, but the budget does have to be approved. Hopefully they'd pass the budget if an override won on the ballot, but theoretically, they could vote it down," said Berry.
Adding that a town meeting audience can approve a budget contingent on an override passing at a later date, DeGeorge expressed his belief that a proposition 2 1/2 initiative should be voted on before the budget is presented at town meeting.
"If they're going to do this, don't wait. Do it now so people can vote on this in April. That way, come May when you have your citizens saying, 'yeah or near', you'll know what your override amounts are," said DeGeorge.
With Selectman Cosmo Ciccarello constantly warning fellow board members that he will not endorse an override given recent salary increases awarded to school employees at a price tag of $488,399 this year alone, several other Selectmen have also mentioned in prior weeks that they will not yet endorse an override.
"All I know is we put the budget on the agenda and we want to speak about an override if that comes up...I have heard that some people think we should have a special town meeting right away for an override," remarked Selectman Tony Kennedy.
Expressing his wariness of placing an override on the ballot before seeing the town administrator's budget, Kennedy claimed he would hold off before jumping on the override wagon.
"I keep asking him when we can have the budget and I would very much like to see firmer numbers coming before Feb. 17...My own feeling is we need to see the whole budget presentation before we decide on the [override] numbers. There are some budget cuts could be reasonable to bring the deficit down," commented Kennedy, who wouldn't say whether he was for or opposed to an override.
Also noncommittal about both an override and whether the measure should take the form of a $2 million or $4 million price tag, Pecoraro claims that last week's public forum proved that the town's services will be devastated by addressing the $5 million deficit through cuts alone.
"I'm not leaning towards a particular number, but as I've said in the past, there's a very real possibility that we need an override. Costs keep on shooting up. And at some point in time, those increases are going to catch up to us," the Chairwoman said.
After seeing last week's budget presentation for the first time and accusing town officials of resorting to scare tactics, Selectman Charlie Smith has claimed that he will not vote for an override until he sees more evidence of cuts taking place.
"We're not going to go for an override unless we get to bare bones....It looks like we might need one. And if cuts don't affect public safety, I might go for one. But there has to be cuts that bring us to the bare bones first," said Smith.
Once a regular citizen voice of dissent at selectmen meetings, DeGeorge claims that his disgust at the process has kept him from attending recent hearings on the budget.
"They're wasting our time. All that they fed us a year ago at that forum was inaccurate. Because we didn't go for an override last year, they all knew and said that we would have to go for an override for this year," explained DeGeorge.
"So why do I want to waste my time going to these dog and pony shows? Just go forward with this override business and stop playing games with the people," he added.
According to the Franklin Street resident, he would like to see any proposition 2 1/2 ballot split into two questions - one asking for appropriations for the town budget, and another asking for appropriations for the school budget.
DeGeorge, who doesn't support an override because of what he refers to as irresponsible spending by town officials, wants citizens to think carefully about the implications of supporting the measure.
"People have to realize that once we approve a 2 1/2 override, that amount will be used every year hereafter to be built into the tax rate...We're still too top heavy in town. We got chiefs and assistant chiefs and supervisors and supervisors of supervisors. We just want one chief and many indians," said DeGeorge.
"How do you save money when you increase hours of operation on something like the recycling yard? When you're in a budget crisis, I expect hours of operation and levels of service to decrease. So there's just one example of me being exhausted with their rhetoric...but you show me good faith and I'll go along with a moderate increase," the Franklin Street resident added.
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