Close vote is expected on override

Toni-Ann Cherico says passage of a $1.55 million override in Winthrop on Tuesday is needed to maintain town services at their existing levels.

"We just want to keep Winthrop the way it is," said Cherico, a spokeswoman for a committee supporting the tax increase. "It's a great little town."

But Alex Mavrakos, a leader of a group opposing the override, calls the measure "an insult to the citizens of this community," contending there are other ways for the town to raise money and cut costs.

In the weeks leading up to the special election, those on both sides of the issue are sounding their views.

The state law Proposition 2 1/2 caps the annual increase in a community's property taxes to 2.5 percent plus revenues from new growth. Passage of the override would allow Winthrop to permanently raise its cap by $1,550,453, adding $252 to the annual bill of an average home valued at $350,000.

The $44.3 million fiscal 2009 budget proposed by Town Manager Richard J. White includes $1,550,453 in spending that is contingent on passage of the override. The Town Council, which voted unanimously in April to schedule the override vote, was set to approve the budget Tuesday.

Of the $1.55 million from the override, the schools would receive $996,361; the Police Department, $175,000; the Fire Department, $100,000; the Department of Public Works, $205,000; and the Planning and Community Development Department, $74,092.

Winthrop has passed two debt exclusions - temporary tax increases to repay borrowing - one to build two elementary schools, and the other for school repairs, according to Thomas E. Reilly, Town Council president. But it has passed an override only once, for $2.5 million to fund operating expenses in 2001. Overrides were defeated in 2000, in 2003, and 2004, when two were defeated.

Committees for and against this year's override are waging campaigns.

The pro-override group, Keep Winthrop, Vote Yes, distributed literature to homes across town last weekend. It is also sending out post cards, posting yard signs, working phone banks, and planning to hold signs on street corners this weekend.

"I feel good," said Cherico, a parent of schoolchildren and the owner of a hair salon, Special F/X, in the town center. "I feel we are putting in the best effort we can. Hopefully, we will prevail."

The committee is working with the Winthrop chapter of Stand for Children, a grass-roots organization in several states that advocates for children, according to Katie Sagarin, an organizer for the group who serves as a consultant to the Winthrop chapter.

Mavrakos is treasurer for Citizens Opposed to Overrides and chairman of a separate group, Citizens for Fair and Balanced Government, which fought against the overrides in 2003 and 2004. He declined to be specific about plans this week, but said, "We are going to fight hard" to defeat the override.

Mavrakos predicted victory for his side, but said, "I feel as though it's going to be closer than the victories we've had in 2003 and 2004."

Reilly supports the override.

"We've had some significant downturns in revenues, and some increases in fixed costs such as pensions and utilities," he said. "This budget would maintain close to the current level of services. Without it, we would have to make some deep cuts. The question for the public is whether they want the reduction in services."

Reilly conceded that particularly in view of the down economy, the override is a "hard sell. But we've laid out for people what the choices are, indicated what the source of money is, where the shortfall in revenue is, where the money would be used. . . . All we can do is make sure it's as clear as possible. I think in this instance we've done that."

Details on the cuts that would be made without the override are contained in White's budget plan. In the school department, they include 14.6 full-time teaching positions, as well as custodial and secretarial jobs.

"The schools will suffer a tremendous negative impact if the override doesn't pass," said School Committee chairwoman Patricia Milano. Classroom sizes would rise in every grade, she said.

"We have over the years tightened our belts and at this point, we really don't have any other recourse than to ask taxpayers for additional help," Milano said. "Part of the reason we didn't ask for more money is because we really felt that given the economic climate, folks certainly are feeling the pinch in their own budgets."

Other job cuts the override would prevent, according to White's budget, include two in the Police Department and 2.5 in the Department of Public Works.

Mavrakos said the town could avoid an override by following some of the suggestions his group has offered. Those include seeking new revenues through the sale of town-owned properties and development of waterfront land in the Crystal Cove area.

"There are so many positives that can happen. All this [Town Council] has to do is look at a progressive plan to develop this community," he said.