Tax wars in the trenches
Override backers, foes use campaign tactics to woo local voters
They wave signs on street corners and outside elementary schools, pass out fliers in front of grocery stores, and knock on door after door to tell their neighbors how to vote. A few even have been known to tear down posters and signs that had been put up by the opposition.
Newton's streets are flooded with residents looking to swing a May 20 ballot question calling for an override of Proposition 2 1/2's limits on property-tax increases.
Two citizens groups - Move Newton Forward and Newton for Fiscal Responsibility - are engaged in all-out campaigns leading up to one of the season's most-watched override votes in area communities. The $12 million question, if approved, would cost median Newton households around $378 a year in additional property taxes, on top of the 2.5 percent increase allowed by the state law without a special vote. The first group is advocating for the tax increase; the other is opposed.
On the same day as the Newton vote, Ashland and Holliston will also be placing proposed overrides - to raise $446,000 and $992,000, respectively - before voters.
In the last few weeks, several area towns have answered whether officials would be able to persuade voters to approve tax increases. In Sudbury, the answer was no. But Natick and neighboring Wayland each passed Proposition 2 1/2 override questions - Natick for $3.9 million and Wayland for $1.9 million. It wasn't easy. Activists in both towns said they had to work longer and harder for votes this year than ever before.
A relentless campaign of public education was key to their success, said Mari Barerra, cochairwoman of Yes! For Natick. The vote on March 25 marked the first time since 2001 that the town's residents had approved boosting property taxes beyond 2.5 percent.
"Absolutely the most important thing we did was have face-to-face discussions with people, and helped get them up to speed on how the town works," Barerra said.
She also cited near unanimity in the support from local leadership. Nearly all of the town's top officials, selectmen, and a large portion of the Finance Committee were ardently in favor of the tax increase to cover the town's needs.
"This helped a lot because there were many spokespeople for the override, and residents could see that these people had spent months poring over every line of the budget," Barerra said. "There was a lot of transparency at the top level of government, and I think that went a long way in easing some concerns."
In Wayland, Lisa Valone, cofounder of Save our Services, helped lead override advocates to their third success since 2005. Override campaigns often focus on the need to preserve services and jobs in town school systems, but Wayland's proposal went further, and Valone believes that was a big factor behind the yes vote.
"I think one of the main reasons we were successful was that we advocated for saving all kinds of town services, certainly not just the schools, and we were vocal advocates for fiscal responsibility in general," Valone said about the passage of the $1.9 million question. "We never took it for granted that people would just vote for it. Times are tough now, we are in a recession, and people here live on fixed incomes."
When it comes to winning votes for a voluntary tax hike, both Barerra and Valone cited the importance of getting people out on the street where their neighbors could see them. In both towns, volunteers helped hold and distribute hundred of lawn signs, passed out informational fliers, and asked supporters to spread the word to their various social groups.
"If you are a senior citizen, hearing the pro-override argument from another senior instead of someone you have never seen before makes a big difference," Valone said.
An informational campaign was apparently not enough to win victory last month in Sudbury for a menu-style override question - in which voters could approve a $1.8 million hike, a $2.8 million boost, or both, depending on the level of services they wanted to underwrite.
It's hard to say why all of the options were turned down, said state Representative Thomas P. Conroy, a Democrat representing Wayland and Sudbury. But he suspects override fatigue might have been at work, as Sudbury had passed a hefty $2.5 million question last year.
"We're looking at a recession, declining home values, and declining equity," Conroy said. "What voters really want is to see is more state aid, state aid, state aid."
In Shrewsbury, where residents have voted down the last three override requests, proponents of a $1.5 million proposal to be voted on next week hope for a change in their luck. This spring, there has been little buzz around the vote, and Maurice DePalo, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, hopes to keep it that way.
The lessons of success and failure have not been lost on Newton and Brookline officials, who said they intend to intensify their targeted campaigning, focusing primarily on shoring up a base of supporters and reaching out to the undecided.
In Newton, Rob Gifford, cochairman of a group supporting the override, Move Newton Forward, said the effort is like a political campaign. Closer to the election, the group will focus on motivating supporters to get out and vote, leaving alone residents who are staunchly opposed, and sending mailers to persuade those who are undecided. Members have distributed about 750 lawn signs, hundreds of bumper stickers, and playground fliers sporting slogans, he said, and make their case for the override at school meetings and house gatherings, serving coffee in the morning or wine and cheese in the evening.
Gifford said his group also focuses on educating residents about what's happening in other communities.
"People don't see the big picture," Gifford said. "They think it's a failure of their officials, and not that lots of other communities are facing the same issues, and there are other drivers."
Brookline Selectwoman Betsy Dewitt, cochairwoman of a group pressing for the override, Yes for Brookline, said her campaign has done detailed polling, voter identification, and demographic analyses. They first found frequent voters by identifying residents who had voted in the last three to five municipal elections, and then narrowed down likely supporters, primarily aiming for parents of school-age children.
Officials of the group hope that since this is Brookline's first override request since 1994, when voters passed a $2.6 million question, residents will perceive this year's proposal as a thoughtful one.
"We think it helped credibility to say, 'Look, this is a fiscally responsible town,' but then we have to explain why after 14 years we really need one now," said Rebecca Stone, a Brookline School Committee member and another advocate of the override.
But Roger Blood, cochairman of the Brookline Coalition Against Unfair Taxation, said the public debate too often devolves into scare tactics.
"Override proponents have to threaten people with cuts, and they need to be painful, or nothing will pass. . . . It's calculated and it's inappropriate during a period of economic stress," Blood said.
In the hopes of avoiding the "Chicken Little" syndrome, Andrew Porter, chairman of the Board of Selectmen in Holliston, said his strategy is to tell residents what they need to know as plainly as possible. Officials in Holliston, which passed an operating override in 2005 by 12 votes, are asking voters to approve a $992,000 override on May 20.
"You tell people the truth," Porter said. "You explain specifically what happens if it doesn't pass, and show them the process you took to get you there. You don't scare them. The sky will not fall down on their heads if they don't pass it."
Rachana Rathi can be reached at rrathi@globe.com.
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