Here are more musings regarding two “over” issues facing municipal Marblehead.
Prop 2 ½ AND overrides — a new reality for Marblehead?
In Marblehead, the word “override” is considered two, four-letter words that should never be spoken in public or even in private. Speaking simply, Prop 2 ½ limits tax growth, and consequently the additional money for the town to spend, to 2.5% per year. If the costs are rising more than 2.5% per year, the only options are to cut services, find new tax opportunities or pass a permanent override.
Since January 2021, the national monthly Consumer Price Index has been above 2.5% in 36 of 39 months. More locally, consider these increases facing the town as reported in a February finance forum:
- Contractual obligations (salaries): 5% per year
- Medical insurance: 6%-8% per year
- Retirement contribution: 8%-9% per year
- Trash collection: 20% for FY25
Note that these increases impact both the school and non-school sides of the budget.
The fact that Marblehead has not passed a general override in decades is simply amazing, in many ways:
- How much inefficiency was in our town operations.
- How we have managed to find other monies.
- How we have pushed the costs to residents in other ways.
- How we have learned to live with reduced services.
It’s highly probable we have maxed out our ability to do this. The proposed FY25 general fund operating budget is in part funded with $5.5 million in “free cash.” That’s 5.4% of the total $102.6 million budget. Another $1 million in “free cash” is used for the FY25 capital budget. “Free cash” is money left over when the town collected more money and/or spent less than expected in prior years.
Using $6.5 million in FY25 will leave a projected “free cash” balance of $2 million before any additions in FY25. Assuming no additions, how will we make up the $4.3 million difference?
Unlike the federal government, Marblehead can’t simply print more money.
As a fully developed community, Marblehead has very limited options for increasing revenues. The new proposed rooms and meals tax will help but not nearly enough. I don’t advocate the repeal of Prop 2 ½ since it does provide an unburdened way to increase town revenues each year. It also forces in-depth scrutiny of all budgets.
Unless there is a Marblehead Magician that can pull boatloads of money out of their hat, we will probably need an override sooner than later. The Finance Committee, given their support for overrides for the FY23 and FY24 budgets, would probably agree. However, they need to market that possibility throughout the calendar year and not wait until the month before Town Meeting. They also need the School Committee to get their act together first. They should host forums at least quarterly in venues where voters, especially those without school-age kids, congregate. They need to get thought leaders in each of these groups understanding. They need to make it simple to understand. I have not seen one presentation that is simple enough.
One of our town leaders is quite fond of saying, “Marblehead has no appetite for an override.” I guess Marblehead is like a person diagnosed with anorexia nervosa that feels hungry but restricts food intake. Will Marblehead whither away or will it bite on an override eventually?
The word “override” should not be viewed as two, four-letter words but as a necessary reality — a tool, sometimes used, to continue to provide quality municipal services in inflationary times, which makes Marblehead a desirable place to live and raise a family, which preserves and increases real estate values. And yes, we do need to provide more significant support for older residents living on a fixed income.
“Tea Party” idealists and town realists
Now the word “overlay” is not quite two, four-letter words, but it might just as well be. Without any requested override on the Town Meeting agenda, Article 36 looms as the most contentious on the docket.
This article deals with the state-imposed compliance with MBTA Communities Act. This act mandates that all municipalities with or adjacent to MBTA rapid transit services lower the permitting barriers to multifamily housing. It doesn’t remove underlying zoning requirements such as site planning, architecture, building heights, landscape design, off-street parking requirements, etc. But it adds building dimensional and density requirements that are relevant for multifamily housing.
Most importantly, it does not require any multifamily housing to be built.
This battle pits “Tea Party” idealists versus town realists. The “Tea Party” idealists state this act is troublesome, invasive, coercive, unconstitutional. Sound similar to the Boston Tea Partygoers? They also argue that the state-mandated measure could detrimentally alter the town’s character and overburden its infrastructure and services — roads, schools, police, fire, etc.
The idealists are inciting fear with rapid hand waving high above their heads. The realists are also hand waving to poo-poo the threats. They say “so what” if the act is Invasive or coercive. It will have very little, if any, impact on a fully developed community with current land use and existing building density like Marblehead. Non-compliance will jeopardize state funding for roads, bridges, sea walls and other infrastructure projects. Non-compliance will require even more money for lawyers.
Since fear is an emotion that is difficult to quell, the Planning Board needs to make their arguments real tangible:
How much state funding is at risk in existing and potential projects? In an April 8 FinCom meeting, a number of $1million-plus projects were verbally identified including $11 million for the Village Street bridge. Put the list in writing!
Get a developer or three to describe why multifamily housing development is not viable in Marblehead’s proposed overlay districts.
And money for lawyers? Like a wise Marblehead seagull, we should let the town of Milton seagull spend its energy and money to attack the Massachusetts state fish. If they are successful, we can easily swoop in and reap the benefits.
Stay tuned for more musings soon.
Seamus Hourihan was born in Marblehead and is a MHS graduate. For 35 years, he worked in finance, marketing and executive management roles at high-tech companies. He has lived here full-time since 2009.
