At Town Meeting next month, Marblehead voters will decide whether to approve two debt exclusion overrides totaling approximately $14.6 million that would temporarily increase property taxes to fund infrastructure repairs at Marblehead High School and Mary Alley Municipal Building. The debt exclusion overrides require a two-thirds vote at Town Meeting and majority vote at the June election.
The proposals include a more than $6 million project to replace the failing 1950s-era HVAC system at Mary Alley and an $8,610,602 project to repair the leaking roof and install new rooftop HVAC units at Marblehead High School. If both pass, the combined debt exclusions would temporarily increase property taxes outside the constraints of Proposition 2½ limits until the borrowing is repaid.
Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer has highlighted the urgent need for HVAC replacement at Mary Alley, where employees currently rely on space heaters and window air conditioning units due to system failures throughout the building.
“There’s huge concern in the building,” Kezer said. “So many of the systems have failed that there’s plug-in heaters in so many office spaces. It scares the heck out of people that if we went down over the weekend, we might have another insurance claim.”
“During the summer, we’re using window air conditioners to keep the building cool because, again, systems have failed,” Kezer added.
The Mary Alley proposal, officially Article 33 on the warrant, would appropriate funds for design, construction, repair, renovation and equipping of the building, including windows, elevators and HVAC systems.
According to Kezer, the town is working with a contractor to finalize assessment of the project scope and expects to have complete pricing details ready before Town Meeting.
A debt exclusion temporarily raises property taxes above what would otherwise be allowed under Proposition 2 1⁄2, the state law limiting how much a municipality can increase property taxes annually. Unlike an override, which permanently increases the tax levy limit, a debt exclusion expires once the specific borrowed amount is repaid.
The high school project, Article 34, represents the $8,610,602 appropriation that would pay for additional costs of a new roof at the town’s high school, including the acquisition and installation of new rooftop HVAC units.
This isn’t the first attempt to address the high school roof issues. Town Meeting approved $5.3 million for the project two years ago, but it never launched.
If approved, the roof project would hike property taxes for 15 years, adding $86 the first year to the bill for the median-priced home. Finance Director Aleesha Benjamin did not respond to questions about the tax impact of the Mary Alley project.
Town Meeting will begin at 7 p.m. on Monday, May 5, at the Marblehead Veterans Middle School Auditorium.
