Rockland to weigh a tax hike

It’s just five months into the current fiscal year, but selectmen in Rockland could determine as early as Dec. 15 that a tax increase is inevitable for next year.

Rockland, where state aid covers about one-third of the town’s yearly budget, is facing the same problems as other Massachusetts communities with escalating costs and revenue shortfalls at the state and local level.

Discussion of the various options in Rockland will begin Monday night, when the Board of Selectmen meets at 7 p.m. at Town Hall.

Three override proposals are on the table, developed over the last few months by a committee consisting of the town administrator, town accountant, a representative from the school department, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, and other members of the town’s financial team. The group’s ideas were formulated into budget options recently presented by the Finance Committee.

After the selectmen discuss the proposals tomorrow, the board’s final decision will most likely take place a few weeks later, said Chairman James Simpson. The choices for the coming fiscal year, which will begin July 1, include making substantial cuts simply to maintain level-funding, as well as boosting taxes by varying amounts.

The first option — to level-fund the town’s $41.6 million budget -- would require cutting nearly $1 million (cq) from this year’s package or passing a property tax override in that amount, since one-time revenue had been used to bail the town of its budget woes for this year.

Even with that override, some cuts would be necessary to cover increases in salaries or expenses such as utilities. A $1 million override, which would be needed to exceed the limits of Proposition 2 1/2, would boost the annual tax bill by $139 on an average-priced house of $300,000, according to Finance Committee calculations.

A second option would maintain the same level of services town departments currently offer. That package would require a $2 million override, raising the average tax bill by $450 annually.

A final option, which would stabilize the town’s finances for three to five years, was presented to selectmen in draft form by the Finance Committee. That override, estimated at $5.3 million, would help bring public safety departments to recommended minimum staffing levels per shift, restore the full-time ’’911’’ operators, bolster the highway department’s staffing level, and add a crossing guard, fund a full-time animal control officer, with night and weekend coverage. It would also provide more money for the library and parks department. This option would raise the average tax bill by about $800.