As Marblehead decides a historic, tiered override that would hike taxes permanently, voters took advantage of three days of in-person, early voting at Abbot Hall. The line stretched through the building on just before the polls (inside the Town Clerk’s Office) closed.
Up next: Election Day on June 9, when residents may cast their votes 7 a.m.-8 p.m. at either Abbot Hall or the high school field house, depending on what precinct they live in. You can find your precinct at WhereDoIVoteMA.com.
Facing a $7.7 million deficit, the town in May approved a $123 million budget with deep staff and program cuts to Abbot Library, public schools, the Council on Aging and more.
Questions 1-3 on the ballot give voters a choice between a $9 million, $12 million and $15 million property tax increase. Question 1 partially restores budget cuts, Question 2 builds back certain programs and Question 3 invests in capital projects. Read more about what services are funded in each tier on page 2.
If any of them pass, it will be the first time Marblehead has approved a general (permanent) tax increase in more than 20 years.
Question 4, at $2.3 million, would re-include the cost of trash collection in the property tax base. If it fails, the town will assess a $290 per household trash fee.
Yays and nays
Citizens groups have lobbied for and against the overrides. For Marblehead encourages people to support questions 1,2 and 3. Better Way Marblehead wants people to reject 1-3 and support Question 4, saying that some of that money can be re-allocated away from trash collection to fund the government. Local attorney Carl Goodman has written a petition for a special town meeting to revisit the budget. As of Monday afternoon, he had not submitted the required 200 signatures.
Candidates
Also on the ballot are contested races for Select Board, School Committee, Recreation & Parks Commission, Housing Authority and Cemetery Commission.
In the Board of Health race, there are three candidates for three open seats. The candidate who receives the most votes will serve three years, the candidate who receives the second most votes will serve two years and the candidate who receives the fewer votes will receive one year before needing to run for another three-year term.
Check out the Current’s Voters Guide for complete news coverage, editorials, columns, letters to the editors, candidate Q&As and more HERE.
The Current will have a team of reporters covering election results. Stay with us at MarbleheadCurrent.org.
