Winchester voters consider property tax hike

Voters Tuesday will consider a proposed tax increase that Winchester officials say is needed to ease cuts to town services next year and avoid deeper cuts in fiscal 2013 and 2014.

The $1.44 million Proposition 2 1/2 override on the town election ballot would permanently raise the town’s annual property tax cap to help fund general operating expenses in various town departments.

The override, backed by selectmen and the school and finance committees, would add $204 next fiscal year to the tax bill of an average single-family home valued at $757,000.

Town officials say the override is critical to Winchester’s ability to keep its level of services largely intact at a time when the town, despite years of economizing, is seeing its costs rising faster than revenues.

Click here to read the rest of John Laidler's story in Globe North.