Saturday vote will determine level of service

At a special election, voters will consider two alternative Proposition 2 1/2 tax-limit overrides - one for $1 million and the other for $1.7 million - to help fund town services in fiscal 2010. If both questions pass, the higher amount would prevail.

Passage of the $1 million override would undo many recent cuts, while adoption of the $1.7 million override would restore nearly all of them, according to town administrator Rita Garbitt.

Advocates on both sides are sounding their messages to voters.

“We feel the override is essential for the overall well-being and safety of our town,’’ said Marlo White, spokeswoman for Concerned Citizens of Lakeville, a group that supports the measures.

The group believes the $1.7 million question would be the most beneficial for the town, but is urging residents to vote “yes’’ on both questions to ensure at least one of them passes, White said.

Carl Peirce, chairman of Lakeville Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility, said his ballot group urges residents to vote “no’’ on both questions.

“We believe the town should reflect its citizens,’’ he said. And many of those residents, he said, notably those unemployed or on fixed incomes, “can’t afford an override of either amount.’’

Elsewhere in the region this year, overrides - permanent increases in a community’s property tax cap - were adopted in Hingham, Milton, and Rockland, and defeated in Hull. Walpole, meanwhile, narrowly approved a debt exclusion, or temporary tax increase, for a new library. Abington voters will take up a $1.7 million override on July 25.

Lakeville’s Annual Town Meeting June 15 effectively provided three budget options: a $21.5 million balanced budget based on current revenue projections, and two budgets that included additional spending contingent on passage of overrides.

Passage of the $1 million override would add about $210 to the tax bill of an average home valued at $350,000, while passage of the $1.7 million override would add $350 to the bill, according to Benjamin Mello, the assessors’ office manager.

The town is operating under the balanced budget, pending special election results. The recent cutbacks, effective July 1, were based on that budget.

The layoffs included 7.5 school employee positions, five of them teachers, in the town’s elementary school; five officers and two dispatchers in the Police Department; a heavy equipment operator in the Highway Department; a part-time assistant health inspector, and two part-time clerks in the selectmen’s office, according to Garbitt.

Three other positions - one in the schools and one in the Fire Department - were left unfilled, while some departments cut employees’ hours.

The library has reduced its Friday hours, while the Council of Aging has closed on Fridays and reduced its van service. Several town hall offices have reduced public hours.

Garbitt said that even if the higher override passes, the elementary schools would still be 7 percent below fiscal 2009 spending levels, while other departments would be at their fiscal 2009 spending levels, leaving the town little room to absorb further state aid cuts.

Lakeville’s fiscal crunch stems from a steep drop in state aid in the past two years, and a downturn in local revenues, Garbitt said. Also, the town’s regional school district assessment - based on the minimum level set by law - was up $390,000 this year.

She said the town’s employee unions helped prevent deeper cuts by agreeing to healthcare concessions and pay freezes for this year. The town will also save about $500,000 by relocating its fourth-graders from the regional intermediate school to Lakeville’s elementary school.

Two Board of Selectmen members - chairman Derek A. Maksy and Nancy E. Yeatts - are supporting the $1 million override, while the third, Charles E. Evirs Jr., is backing the $1.7 million override.

“I think that to meet the town’s needs this year, that $1 million would work,’’ Maksy said. “We would keep most of the services.’’

Evirs said that $1 million is not enough to make up for the combination of the town’s state aid cuts and increased regional school costs. He said with $1.7 million, the town can largely avoid cuts.

Peirce said some members of his group believe some services and levels of staffing are more than the town has needed.

Evirs disagreed, saying, “We’ve been cutting so many years, it’s incredible.’’

White said the town cannot afford not to pass an override.

“If we don’t get the override, we are going to lose a lot of the amenities this town needs,’’ she said. “From the senior citizens, all the way down to the kindergartners, everyone is going to be affected.’’

John Laidler can be reached at laidler@globe.com.