Belmont rejects override for roads

Proposition 2 1/2 bid loses by 53-47 percent margin

BELMONT - Road improvements will have to wait.

By a vote of 2,602 to 2,269, residents rejected a Proposition 2 1/2 override last night that would have raised $2.5 million annually to fix the town's deteriorating roads.

Angelo Firenze, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, said he was not surprised by the defeat, although the 53 to 47 percent margin was closer than he had anticipated.

"We've got to go back and regroup," Firenze said.

"We still have to figure out how to solve this. It's disappointing, but it's also an opportunity."

Thirty-two percent of the town's 15,200 registered voters turned out.

If voters had said yes to the override last night, at least $2.5 million each year would have been directed to a stabilization fund designated for road improvements.

The tax hike would have been permanent, so the $2.5 million would have increased by the allowed 2.5 percent each year.

In 25 years, all of the town's roads would been fixed and the money raised each year would have then been used to maintain them, municipal officials said in a road improvement plan.

If the override had passed, the average single-family tax bill would have increased by $363.

The average single-family tax bill is now $8,652; the average single-family house is valued at $767,676.

Belmont residents could face two more override votes over the next year that would raise taxes.

One vote could come as early as this fall for a new elementary school.

Town officials have also said that an operating override might be placed on the ballot next spring.