Rockland voters OK $2.8m override
Voters in Rockland overwhelmingly opted to spare an elementary school and several town departments from shutting down in a weekend election that drew thousands to the polls.
Bucking a trend in which an increasing number of municipalities have rejected property tax hikes, the town approved overrides that will increase taxes by roughly $2.8 million, which would tack an additional $427 in taxes to the average home assessed at $296,500.
"No one said this would fix all the ills, but it will allow us to maintain basic services," Allan Chiocca, Rockland town administrator, said last night.
Voters were faced with four separate ballot questions asking them for varying amounts of overrides of Proposition 2 1/2, the state law that limits property tax increases. Question 1 asked for $1.8 million for the schools. Question 2 asked for additional funds for the police, fire, highway, and veterans departments, Board of Health, tax collector, assessors, town clerk, and Board of Selectmen. Question 3 asked for $348,000 for the library, and Question 4 asked for additional funds for the Council on Aging, Youth Commission, Parks Department, and visiting nurse.
The overrides will allow Jefferson Elementary School to stay open and spare the town's library from imminent closure, as well as the Council on Aging.
"We were elated," Rachel Gear, who has a first-grade pupil at Jefferson, said of the Saturday vote. Gear and other parents formed a pro-override group - Great Schools, Great Town - which networked among parents to rally voters.
Tax watchdog associations have been quick to praise towns that have avoided going for an override to fill the gap in state funding.
Rockland residents have been reluctant to approve overrides, having passed only one operational budget increase since Proposition 2 1/2 was enacted in the 1980s.
The vote was expected to be very close, but in the end, 2,924 voted in favor of the override question involving the schools, while 1,252 voted against it. The rest of the questions had a similar result.
"This was a case of the community just pulling together and realizing how important it is for our town to have this passed," said Jeanine Oliver, another Jefferson school parent involved in the group.
Globe correspondent Christine Legere contributed to this report. 
