Selectmen place override on ballot
Published on February 22nd, 2006
STONEHAM, MA - In a unanimous decision last Wednesday, the town's Board of Selectmen authorized Town Clerk John Hanright to place a debt exclusion override on the April ballot.
Failing to nail down an exact figure for the proposed citizen tax increase, board members did discuss a preliminary amount of $1.2 million.
However, according to Town Administrator Ron Florino, approximately $400,000 worth of debts originally scheduled to be paid off next year have yet to be bonded, meaning presently, only $850,000 in debts could be included in the ballot initiative.
"[A $1.2 million debt exclusion] gradually goes down over the years and would probably carry over until 2026. Each year, it would dip down by $50,000 to $100,000," said Florino, explaining that unlike an operating-expense override, the tax increase is not permanent.
Holding off on pitching a solid figure for the debt exclusion until town officials could be assured that the amount was accurate, the Selectmen directed Town Counsel Bill Solomon to draft up a proposal for the ballot by this Wednesday. Reached at his office on Tuesday afternoon, Hanright had not received any documentation from either Solomon or the Selectmen's office as of 5 p.m.
According to Florino, if a $1.2 million debt exclusion was authorized by local residents this April, citizens on average would pay $140 in additional taxes for FY07. Combined with increases stemming from new tax rates approved by the Selectmen last fall, tax bills would rise by a total of $210 for the average homeowner.
While Selectmen Tony Kennedy formally requested last week that the Selectmen consider adding a debt exclusion to the ballot, the initiative was reportedly first introduced by Oak Street resident Carol Feke.
During an interview with The Stoneham Independent last Tuesday - a day after she would pitch the ballot question to the Finance Board - the School Committee candidate claimed that she hadn't decided on whether a renewed trash fee, debt exclusion, or override was appropriate to offset the FY07 deficit.
However, Feke told the Selectmen last Wednesday night that although she was still unsure as to whether the tax override was necessary, she felt it was, given the nature of the cuts described by the Town Administrator.
"I suspect we do need additional income," the Oak Street resident reasoned. "I think we have to look closely at what we asked Ron Florino to do."
With Feke's successful proposal placing the debt exclusion question alongside the previously-approved, non-binding, trash referendum question, the Selectmen rejected a similar request from Finance Board member and Selectmen's candidate Daniel Doherty to also include an override on the April ballot.
Suggesting that a $1.8 million operating-expense override compete with the two other measures, the Selectman's race contender argued that the measure would provide residents with the ability to consider all possible revenue streams to offset the budget.
"I think the voters of this town are mature enough to decide what levels of funding they want," Doherty said. "If all three measures were on the ballot and all three passed, there's nothing to exclude the town from taking a combination."
Cautioning the Selectmen against even having two contesting ballot questions, Town Counsel Bill Solomon warned that the revenue proposals were likely to be defeated, even if the majority of Stonehamites agreed with the general idea of raising funds to offset the FY07 deficit.
Specifically, the town attorney argued that by including two separate measures, residents in favor of limiting operating and personnel reductions next year may inadvertently defeat both measures by choosing one option over the other, thereby splitting the vote with like-minded citizens.
"You're dividing the pro revenue vote because some people will go in one direction and other people will go in another. So you're probably best off deciding what you want to put on the ballot," Solomon remarked.
Assuming that town officials agree upon a $1.2 million figure for the ballot question, the anticipated $1.8 million deficit for next year would be slashed down to $600,000, a financial burden that would be shared by both the town and municipal sectors.
However, based upon comments made by School Committee Chairwoman Marie Christie during last week's tri-board meeting, that lingering deficit for next year is likely to shrink to approximately $375,000, should a $1.2 million debt exclusion pass.
Specifically, the veteran School Committee member told the gathering that the educational budget was slightly trimmed by factoring both the loss of one out-of-district special education placement and lower health insurance cost estimates.
"We managed to reduce [our draft one] budget because of the health insurance quotes and because of a special education student we got back. So we brought it down another $225,675," Christie said.
Yet while planned school expenditures were reduced by $225,000, school officials argued that their FY07 budget could not afford to be cut-back anymore.
Claiming that doing so would result in drastic consequences that the board refused to consider, Christie and fellow School Committee counterpart Maureen Soley warned that school closures, the elimination of athletics, and failure to meet state and federal education regulations were certain if any more funding was withheld.
"We've said it over and over again. We've already done away with remedial reading programs, technology programs, health programs [and] instrumental music," Soley commented.
"If we reach for a couple-hundred thousand dollars or $900,000, the only way I can see it being done is through closing buildings," Soley opined.
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