Hingham voters approve tax hike for $60.9m middle school
Both Hingham ballot questions won in an overwhelming majority at the polls on Saturday, approving the $60.9 million middle school and $935,000 athletic fields renovation.
Question one, allowing the town to be exempt from Proposition 2.5 percent in order to bond for the proposed Middle School, won in a vote of 3078 to 2353.
Question two also passed, with 3770 voting yes to 1661 voting no. The town will spend $60,000 to repair the tennis courts, $600,000 to reconstruct and rebuild the track, and $275,000 to develop design and construction documents for an all purpose field.
The proposal to build a new middle school adjacent to the existing one, with 44 percent of the cost to be reimbursed by the Massachusetts School Building Authority, has been vetted continually throughout the past few months, as town and school officials debated the cost and necessity of the building.
The middle school project is expected to increase annual property taxes by a maximum of $60.72 per $100,000 of assessed value in fiscal 2015, then decrease gradually over the 20-year life of the loan the town would obtain to fund the project.
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