Override Vote Will Drive Town Budget

This year the process for preparing the Ashland town budget has been “a lot more collaborative,” according to town officials.
“The [budget] process is improving,” Steve Mitchell, a Selectman and the chair of the Override Study Committee (OSC), said. “I think the Tri-Board meetings will continue, but this is an unusual year with the override.”
The Tri-Board, created last year to address the town’s long-term needs, consists of the School Committee, Board of Selectmen, Finance Committee, town manager and assistant town manager.
Out of those meetings, the Board of Selectmen (BOS) formed a 10-member OSC to hold public forums, compile and analyze data and craft a proposal. There was consensus from the Tri-Board that a Prop 2 ½ override was a viable tool, and a proposal went before the BOS in February for approval.
Proposition 2 ½ is a Massachusetts law passed in 1980 that limits the total amount of property taxes a Massachusetts city and town can raise each year. The property tax levy is the revenue a community can raise through real and personal property taxes. A community can permanently increase its levy limit by successfully voting an override. The amount of the override becomes a permanent part of the levy limit base. (Read more: Levy Limits: A Primer on Proposition 2 ½)
The town budget, therefore, will depend on what the voters say at the town elections on May 17.
This year the annual town meeting will start on Wednesday, May 4, and continue to Wednesday, May 25, when residents will vote on the budget after the results of the override vote on May 17 is known.
Value and Affordability
Since February, when the BOS voted to put the override on the town meeting ballot, officials have been busy putting their case for an override before residents in public forums and meetings.
“It comes down to value and affordability for residents,” Herbert said. “School Superintendent Jim Adams and I are holding a series of meetings at the community center. We’ll tell folks how we got to this point.”
Herbert, who had just come from a meeting at the senior center at the time of this interview, said “affordability is a concern.”
“If the total override ($2.4 million) passes, the cost for a single family home valued at $400,000 is $415 total additional tax per year. If the override for $1.9 million passes, the cost is $330 per year. If the override for $500,000 passes, the amount is $85 per year,” Herbert explained.
Ashland voters will be asked to vote Yes or No on two ballot questions on May 17: one for $1,943,400 for the schools and general government operating budgets and one for $500,000 to for the Community and Economic Development Infrastructure stabilization fund.
“We are fourth from the bottom in spending per capita; we’ve kept our expenditures low,” Herbert said.
“We’ll need $200K to make up the deficit without an override,” he said. “If the override passes, we can go ahead with such projects as the river walk. If it doesn’t pass, we’ll have to make cuts. For example, possible cuts are proposed IT programs, storm water infrastructure, training initiatives for police and fire, and some plans for economic development.”
Herbert points to state and municipal relief for qualifying seniors, such as 41C1/2, which he said allows a deduction of $513 to seniors making $56,000 or less. If the override passes, the exemption will be increased by $450, to $963. One hundred seventy-five households in Ashland currently qualify, according to Herbert.
Herbert noted that there is also a tax deferral and state senior circuit breaker program. The town adopts these programs and then can increase the exemption amount, he said.
For more information on
Town property tax exemptions, visit www.ashlandmass.com/317/Property-Tax-Exemptions
School budget information, visit www.ashland.k12.ma.us/budget-information.