Override vote set for June 7, as board weighs reduced amounts
Voters will face an override on June 7 after selectmen on Monday, April 4, decided to put one or more measure on the ballot, the first since 2005, but the board is waiting until April 11 before voting which measures after the town manager suggested ways to reduce the amounts targeted.
Clarissa Rowe, the board’s new chairwoman, said she thought the recommended “price was a bit too high.”
The Long-Range Committee had suggested options that would raise about $7.9 million in revenue by increasing property taxes by 9.1 percent and another that would raise about $5.9 million. The latter plan would generate $2 million in savings and revenue by switching the town’s trash-removal service to a pay-as-you-throw program, in which residents pay $1 or $2 for each bag of trash they throw out.
Town Manager Brian Sullivan told the board the total tax increases under both override options could be reduced by subtracting funding for several programs, including $400,000 per year in road repair and an additional boost of $600,000 to the school department’s budget.
The more expensive override option would boost taxes about $560 per year on the average Arlington home valued at $479,000. The second plan would add about $425 more per year to the tax bill on the average home.
After the reductions that Sullivan suggested, he said the first override option would raise about $6.2 million, which would hike taxes by about $425 a year on the average home.
The reduced second option would raise about $4.3 million, and that would increase taxes by about $300 per year on the average home. It would include the pay-as-you-throw trash program, Sullivan said.
Selectman Kevin Greeley said having two override options on the ballot could be too confusing for voters. “I really think we want one question,” he said.
Dan Dunn, who was elected to the board Saturday, April 2, said he also thinks two override options could be confusing and he requested another week to work on the language that would appear on the ballot for the special election.
The town faces a $3.8 million deficit for fiscal 2012, and the schools bout $4 million. A no vote on an override would mean serious cuts to town (police, fire, libraries and the DPW) and to schools, where from 40 to 60 teaching positions could be cut.
A working proposal for a three-year override includes the following:
— No operating override will be requested for at least three years.
— Town and school operating budget increases will not exceed 2.5 percent per year.
— Documented special-education cost increases will not exceed 7 percent per year. If special-education costs exceed this amount, the remaining school budget will be decreased by the difference.
— The limit on healthcare cost increases will be 10 percent. If increases exceed this amount, the town and school budgets will be proportionately decreased by this amount. If healthcare increases are less than 10 percent as a result of negotiated healthcare savings (should town employees settle with the GIC), the town and school budgets will be proportionately increased by the difference.
— An additional $600,000 will be appropriated to the school department in FY2012.
— An additional $400,000 will be appropriated for road improvements, beyond the amount now allocated for such projects in the capital budget.
— Reserves will be maintained at 5 percent of operating revenues over the course of the three-year period.
— Depending on the dollar amount of the override, the PAYT program could be eliminated over the three-year commitment period, so residents will not have to shoulder trash collection fees.
Dunn moved to put the override on the ballot so that the Finance Committee and Sullivan can determine the town departments’ supplemental budgets.
Dunn said there is time to talk about structuring healthcare and insurance as to the override.
The manager and representatives of town and school unions were meeting Wednesday, April 6, to discuss a union proposal on healthcare.
By law, the selectmen must determine the official ballot questions and send them to residents within 35 days of the override vote.
Vision 2020 survey
In a related matter, Vision 2020 presented to selectmen the results of its annual survey. In this year’s survey, taken online and on paper between January and March 15, residents were asked how they would prefer the town to handle its growing budget deficit.
The survey asked residents to examine potential service cuts across various town departments. Voters could chose between making full cuts, administering a three-year or five-year override or implementing PAYT program and using the savings from trash collection fees to fund town services.
20 percent of residents responded:
Question %Yes % No
Would you support a 3-year override? 51.5 48.5
Would you support a 5-year override? 41.3 58.7
Would you support a 3-year OR 5-year override? 61.8 38.2
Would you support the Pay As You Throw (PAYT) program? 64.6 35.4
The complete Vision 2020 survey will be available online soon.
