Thursday, March 15, 2007 Older Editions

Town Meeting: Override decisions to await voters?

By Brian Messenger

Andover officials already plan to ask Town Meeting voters if they will raise taxes above the level allowed by Proposition 21/2 to pay for school-roof replacements and sidewalk repairs. Now, they're considering closing their budget deficit with an override of the state law, too.

Faced with a $2.8 million operating budget shortfall less than a month and a half before Annual Town Meeting begins April 23, Selectman Brian Major said the town should plan to include additional warrant articles calling for Proposition 21/2 overrides at a Special Town Meeting within Town Meeting.

"Given the budget gap we have, it's going to be near impossible to close that," said Major. "I think we need to consider one, two, or more override votes."

Town Manager Buzz Stapczynski said officials have not yet decided exactly how they will seek to balance the budget.

"That's what we're working through now," said Stapczynski. "Some people think an override is the only way to close that gap, others think it's dead on arrival. There's no consensus yet."

Finance Committee Chairwoman Joanne Marden said town, school and finance officials will meet Friday at Town Offices to discuss the options before them in balancing the budget.

"This isn't something that's hitting us this week," said Marden. "It's not like we didn't know we had the problem."

Andover's budget does not include increases for employees. A hypothetical 3-percent increase to employees would total $2.1 million, raising the deficit to nearly $5 million, said Major.

"That has to be a part of the discussion as well," he said. "We haven't really solved the root cause of the expense problem."

If the budget was balanced through an override, "The impact on the [average] single family home would be about $375 just for that," said Major. "That [$375] would be just for the override of potentially $5 million."

Possible votes

Two Proposition 21/2 debt exclusions will be on the Annual Town Meeting warrant for school roof and sidewalk five-year funding plans.

A Special Town Meeting is already expected to be held within the second night of Annual Town Meeting on April 24 (see related story, page 6), to vote on issues concerning the construction of a privately funded Andover youth center.

While a debt exclusion raises property taxes temporarily, only to pay for a specific project's debt, a general override raises them permanently.

Stapczynski suggested in early February that any budget appropriations over his suggested level services budget be funded through a Proposition 21/2 override, a move that he said this week could go before voters after amending budget items at Town Meeting.

But Major believes residents should know if the town plans to vote on a general override well before Town Meeting.

"The problem is, you're not giving the citizens forewarning that it's coming," said Major. "I believe that it's so critical that we have these discussions in the public forum as soon as possible. [We must] try to eliminate as much confusion as possible - we need to discuss it now."

School Committee member Deb Silberstein said the committee has not identified an override as a leading option to close the budget gap.

"I don't think there's any appetite for an override. An override is very divisive for the community," she said. "This is a gap that we need to try and close and I think we need to try and close it within available revenues."

Major also did not believe there's support for an override to pass in town, but called it "the neatest and cleanest proposal" to balance the budget. After looking at the budget at length last week, he believes other options available to the town would not solve the budgetary problems the town faces in the long run, including closing the deficit with the town's free cash and foregoing capital improvements, both "financial disasters in waiting," he said.

"The only other option: significant increases in fees. And those would be significant," said Major. "It's either we increase the pie ... or we forgo the additional services. It is a harsh reality."

Stapczynski said lower-than-expected state aid figures, salary increases for town employees, and town trash collection and disposal costs would change the final financial picture the town must consider.

He did not know whether the overrides would address funding for specific departments.

"The majority of it's going to be on the school side," said Major. "There could be departments on the town side that could include the additional funding."

"The school budget has the biggest increases," said Marden.