Norfolk, Rockland, Needham and Wayland among communities weighing tax increases
Times are tough, but several communities will be asking voters to raise property taxes to pay for schools and other improvements in the coming weeks.
Taxpayers in Norfolk, Rockland, Needham, Wayland and Danvers will be asked to approve spending in Town Meeting or on the ballot.
“We understand that times are difficult,’’ said Norfolk Selectman Jim Lehan, the board’s chairman. “Some of my own friends are unemployed. But our role is to bring the best financial considerations we can. And both of these buildings are critical components of our infrastructure.’’
In Norfolk, residents taking part in Tuesday’s Special Town Meeting will be asked to approve a $37 million project to replace the Freeman-Centennial School, and a new public safety building with a price tag of $10 million. The warrant also has an article seeking $200,000 for work on the town’s roads.
If the measures pass, a townwide election on Dec. 8 will ask voters to override Proposition 2 1/2’s limits on property tax increases to pay for them.
In Rockland, an $86 million proposal to construct a middle school and renovate Rockland’s aging high school won unanimous support at Tuesday’s Special Town Meeting. The real test comes Saturday Nov. 14, when voters decide by ballot whether they want to raise their property taxes for 25 years to cover the cost.
In Wayland, if a majority of voters at the town’s Nov. 17 special election approve the $70.8 million high school building project, Town Meeting would be asked the next night to support a Proposition 2 1/2 override to pay for the town’s share of the total cost. The debt-exclusion request would raise property taxes long enough to repay the construction loan.
Needham voters will go to the polls Dec. 8 to consider the town's portion of a $27-million project to repair and upgrade the Newman School.
Elsewhere in the region:
- Wenham has scheduled a Special Town Meeting for Nov. 12 to consider whether to support a $1.5 million project to replace the 57-year-old heating system at the Cutler School in the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District with a new computerized energy management system designed for greater efficiency.
The project will require a Proposition 2 1/2 debt exclusion override. If it gains a two-thirds majority at Wenham's Special Town Meeting, residents in both Hamilton (which already approved the project at its Special Town Meeting last month) and Wenham will hold special elections.
The state has promised to reimburse 42.58 percent of the building costs.
- Swampscott voters also are facing an override, though the price tag for the proposed new police station was downsized by $1 milllion to $6.5 million this week. The recommended size of the new station also was cut from 15,000 to 13,000 square feet by the Police Station Building Committee.
The town has scheduled a Special Town Meeting on Nov. 16 to vote on the project, which will require a Proposition 2 1/2 debt exclusion followed by townwide approval at a special election. The station would be built at a site on Humphrey Street.
- In Andover, Town Manager Reginald S. Stapczynski presented his five-year capital improvement recommendations and needs through fiscal year 2015 to the Board of Selectmen as required by the town’s bylaws.
For the current fiscal year, Stapczynski is recommending capital improvement projects to the tune of just under $7.7 million, which he described as being ‘‘the lowest in recent years.’’ Pointing to the economic recession and ‘‘limited prospects for revenue growth,’’ Stapczynski stated that developing this year’s capital improvement program would pose a unique challenge.
The dollar amount does not include funding for the Bancroft Elementary School, town yard, and Ballardvale fire station construction projects, currently in the planning stages. Funding these would require a debt exclusion override vote, according to the report.
A public hearing on the Capital Improvement Program recommendations is scheduled for the Nov. 16 Board of Selectmen’s meeting. Stapczynski’s report can be found on www.andoverma.gov.
- Lynnfield, anticipating lower state aid, and even with level funding in all but non-discretionary areas such as pension or health insurance contributions, is likely facing a $500,000 budget deficit in fiscal year 2011, according to Town Administrator Bill Gustus.
Gustus presented his preliminary report on the FY 2011 budget at a recent Board of Selectmen meeting.
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