Milton voters to consider $3.4m override, largest ever

A handful of communities south of Boston have considered increasing taxes this spring, with varying results. Hull voters defeated a $1.6 million override aimed at maintaining local services. In Hingham, voters supported a $1.1 million permanent increase in taxes to open a new elementary school this fall.

In Rockland, a town that has passed only one permanent tax increase in the past 20 years, voters last weekend overwhelmingly approved a whole menu of override questions related to next year's budget, totaling $2.7 million.

Walpole voters, meanwhile, went to the polls yesterday to consider a $7 million temporary tax increase to build a new library. That same question was narrowly defeated last November.

Lakeville selectmen will ask voters at a June 15 Town Meeting to consider increasing taxes by $1 million or $1.7 million. The larger number would sustain local government at its current level, but the schools would still be cut by 10 percent. A ballot vote on the overrides has been set for mid-July.

Historically, Milton has supported both temporary tax increases, called debt exclusions, for capital projects and permanent overrides for yearly budgets. The most recent was a positive vote on a $2.4 million override for the fiscal 2007 budget. But the pending proposal will be a gut check, as it is the largest amount ever put before voters.

Town leaders decided to keep the override question as a single amount, even though the ballot then breaks down how much each department would receive. "Our questions generally go as one rather than a menu," said selectmen chairman John Shields. "We are all one town, and everything contributes to our quality of life."

Shields said an expected $1.2 million cut in state aid, coupled with shrinking revenue, is driving the need for the $3.4 million override. "But people know what's at stake," Shields said.

A pro-override group called Invest In Milton has appeared on local cable television, spoken to civic organizations, and hit local voters with handouts, mailings, e-mails, and phone calls promoting its position. Group members have also placed override support placards in their windows and on doors - lawn signs are frowned upon in this community - and have stood on street corners promoting the measure. They plan to be out in force on Election Day.

"We've done everything we could think of," said Invest in Milton co-chairman Jeff Cruikshank. "We've gone and talked wherever people would sit still and listen to us."

While officials and proponents acknowledge there are those on the other side of the override issue, there has been no organized counterattack.

But officials say the days leading up to the vote have been nerve-racking. "A lot of people are hurting," said Fire Chief Malcolm Larson. "It's understandable that people might be afraid to increase their taxes."

But Larson warns that failure at the polls will severely affect his department. "We have five unfilled positions that would remain unfilled," he said. "One fire station would probably close for a year, and one of three engines would be taken out of service." The department is slated to get $239,984 of the override amount.

Police Chief Richard Wells has run a vigorous campaign to convey what his department does for the community. If the override fails, he said, his force would be at its lowest staffing level in several decades.

"We were at 56 officers for nearly two decades," Wells said. "That was reduced to 53 in fiscal '09, and, without the override, we'll be down to 47 or 48 in fiscal '10." Even with the $398,200 the override would provide, the department would have about 51 officers.

The School Department would get the biggest piece of the override pie: $1.8 million. School Committee chairwoman Lynda Lee Sheridan said the schools would lose 46 employees, including 38 teachers, if the override fails.

Other consequences include turning off half the town's streetlights, eliminating yard waste pickup, and closing the East Milton branch library.

The override would add $340 to the annual tax bill for an average home assessed at $530,000.

Christine Legere can be reached at christinelegere@yahoo.com.