Override Central

• Lessons from recent override campaigns

  By Rachana Rathi and Erica Noonan GLOBE STAFF NEWTON -- They wave signs at street corners and outside elementary schools, pass out flyers in front of grocery stores, and knock on door after door to tell their neighbors how to... [...]
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  Posted: April 30, 2008, 7:04pm EDT
  

• Medfield Town Meeting rejects override proposal

  Medfield Town Meeting voters have shot down a $450,000 debt-exclusion override proposal that would have funded design plans and other costs associated with a new parks and recreation facility. The override would have added about $30 per year to the... [...]
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  Posted: April 30, 2008, 9:54am EDT
  

• Groveland Town Meeting passes override

  A turnout of 144 Town Meeting voters on Monday night unanimously voiced their support for continuing Groveland's road improvement progam via a $172,340 Proposition 2 1/2 override. The paving program had been funded through a continuous series of one-year capital... [...]
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  Posted: April 29, 2008, 11:23am EDT
  

• Coming Thursday

  Thursday's Globe North will feature a rundown on the 11 local communities that will consider overrides in May and June. Among them: the first-ever request in Beverly, plus capital exclusions, debt exclusions, and permanent overrides -- short- and long-term property... [...]
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  Posted: April 28, 2008, 4:22pm EDT
  

• Abington approves override -- barely

  In Abington, a $650,000 override to help fund the upcoming year?s trash disposal services passed by only three votes over the weekend, with 679 in favor and 676 opposed. According to the Town Clerk?s office, there is already talk in... [...]
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  Posted: April 28, 2008, 3:21pm EDT
  

• Five towns reject property tax hikes, four approve

  Nine cities and towns have held votes on property tax increases this year, and the results are just about down the middle. Voters in four towns have approved at least one property tax override under the state's Prop 2 1/2... [...]
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  Posted: April 25, 2008, 12:45pm EDT
  

• Abington prepares to vote Saturday

  Either way, the public pays. Three weeks ago, Town Meeting in Abington closed a $1 million operational budget gap in the coming year?s $45 million package, by taking money $650,000 from the town?s solid waste disposal account and $350,000 from... [...]
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  Posted: April 23, 2008, 10:38pm EDT
  

• Override votes, town meetings on the horizon

  The latest list from towns and cities around the area: Groveland - April 28, Town Meeting (election May 5) Wenham - May 3 Town Meeting (special election if needed May 15) Georgetown - May 5 Town Meeting, (election May... [...]
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  Posted: April 21, 2008, 10:38am EDT
  

• Winthrop asks for $1.5 million

  After much deliberation, Winthrop officials decided Tuesday to request a $1,550,453 override that would give $996,361 to the schools and $554,092 for the police, fire, and public works departments, as well as salary for a planning/community development/grants position. If approved... [...]
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  Posted: April 17, 2008, 11:25pm EDT
  

• $20m sought for Marblehead schools

  At the May 5 Town Meeting, Marblehead voters will be asked to approve overrides totalling nearly $20 million to address school building needs. Rather than permanent overrides, the hikes are being sought as debt exclusions, which always the town to... [...]
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  Posted: April 17, 2008, 10:20pm EDT
  

• It's still a tax

  It's not a property tax increase brought by a Prop 2 1/2 override, but the Community Preservation Act surcharge still adds to your tax bill. It also pays for projects like land along a lake in Newton and parcels throughout... [...]
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  Posted: April 17, 2008, 9:58am EDT
  

• Groveland selectmen want to change capital exclusion to permanent override

  Groveland residents who thought they'd be spared an override vote this spring got a surprise when the Board of Selectmen voted to change an annual capital exclusion item to a permanent Proposition 2 1/2 override. The amount: $172,340. Each year,... [...]
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  Posted: April 15, 2008, 2:20pm EDT
  

• Rowley to vote on pumper truck

  Rowley voters are facing a single Proposition 2 1/2 tax increase proposal this spring that would add $48 to the average property tax bill. The May 13 town election ballot includes a debt exclusion to fund the purchase of... [...]
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  Posted: April 14, 2008, 3:24pm EDT
  

• Choosing sides in Brookline

  The campaigns for and against Brookline's two override questions on May 6 are gathering steam. A recent kickoff party for override supporters drew more than 100 people, many of them new to local politics, according to those who attended. "This... [...]
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  Posted: April 13, 2008, 6:34pm EDT
  

• Upcoming override votes

  Tax increases are on the agenda in town meetings and special elections. Here is a calendar of what is coming in the next few weeks: Wenham - May 3 Town Meeting Georgetown - May 5 Town Meeting Hamilton - May... [...]
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  Posted: April 11, 2008, 12:27pm EDT
  

• Crumbling roads, even in Belmont

  You've heard the tales of woe. Sports programs depleted, library hours shorter, teachers laid off. Now comes Belmont. The diagnosis: bad roads. The Board of Selectmen recently voted to place a Proposition 2 1/2 tax-limit override question on the election... [...]
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  Posted: April 10, 2008, 10:10am EDT
  

• $1.5 million Ipswich school override is heading to Town Meeting vote

  Without saying whether they're for it or against it, the Ipswich Board of Selectmen Monday voted to place the schools' $1,491,000 Proposition 2 ½ override request on the warrant for the May 13 Town Meeting. Superintendent Rick Korb, who made... [...]
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  Posted: April 09, 2008, 10:54am EDT
  

• Wayland approves override

  Voters in Wayland Tuesday night approved a $1.9 million Proposition 2 1/2 tax override and voted out a selectman who had been vocal against the tax increase. Nearly $1.3 million of the increased taxes will directly benefit Wayland K-12 public... [...]
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  Posted: April 09, 2008, 8:51am EDT
  

• Rockport passes first hurdle; Hamilton adds second override for general budget

  Updates from North country: At Town Meeting Saturday, Rockport residents voted to put a $2,735,000 debt exclusion to voters at the May 6 town election. The proposed debt exclusion, approved by more than the two-thirds majority required at Town Meeting,... [...]
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  Posted: April 08, 2008, 3:39pm EDT
  

• Georgetown goes a la carte

  If you can't get voters to go for the big one, try it in smaller pieces. That seems to be the approach in Georgetown, where voters defeated a $1.1 million Proposition 2 1/2 override by a small margin last... [...]
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  Posted: April 08, 2008, 1:01pm EDT
  

• Beverly putting override to vote

  Will it be Yes for Beverly? The City Council will let the voters decide. The council voted unanimously Monday to hold a special election June 3 requesting a $2.5 million override to help the school system close its budget gap.... [...]
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  Posted: April 08, 2008, 11:10am EDT
  

• Sudbury begins to cut

  Town Meeting voters in Sudbury approved a budget Monday night that could require significant cuts in both the Sudbury and Lincoln-Sudbury school systems. As many as 31 full-time faculty and staff positions could be lost in the two systems as... [...]
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  Posted: April 08, 2008, 9:17am EDT
  

• Ashland to vote May 20

  Voters in Ashland will consider a nearly half-million-dollar property tax hike May 20 targeted to keep libraries open in all of the town?s schools, retain two teaching positions, and prevent severe fee hikes for school busing and athletics.... [...]
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  Posted: April 07, 2008, 6:41pm EDT
  

• Tax increase proposals around the region

  As Sunday's round up of cuts and tax increases demonstrated, towns and cities around the state are facing difficult times. Check out these details from stories in Sunday's regional sections: In Beverly, a tax increase is on the table. Wakefield... [...]
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  Posted: April 06, 2008, 11:18pm EDT
  

• Will Winthrop attempt to break streak?

  Since the start of the decade, Winthrop voters have rejected all but one Proposition 2 1/2 override requests they've been asked to pass. It's looking more like town officials may give it another shot. Following a unanimous vote by the... [...]
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  Posted: April 02, 2008, 11:51pm EDT
  

• Beverly considers first-ever override

  An override in Beverly? It's never happened, but this year, it might. As a $2.67 million school budget gap looms, the threat of closing two of the city's six elementary schools and cutting 61 school employees has raised the alarm.... [...]
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  Posted: April 02, 2008, 11:25pm EDT
  

• Ipswich moves closer to $1.5 million school override

  The School Committee has finalized its figures and hopes to present a $1,491,000 Proposition 2 ½ override to Ipswich voters in May. The override would allow the district to avoid a series of steep budget cuts that have been... [...]
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  Posted: April 02, 2008, 8:50am EDT
  

• Holbrook, Chelmsford tax hikes rejected, Randolph's approved

  Amid a sagging economy, voters considering property tax increases in four towns delivered a mixed verdict yesterday, as the state confronts what may be the most difficult budget year since 2003. In Randolph, voters approved a multi-million dollar property... [...]
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  Posted: April 01, 2008, 10:36pm EDT
  

• Randolph approves overrides

  Breaking with recent tradition, voters in Randolph Tuesday overwhelmingly approved three tax increases that totalled more than $6 million. School and town officials hope the money will avert a state takeover of its beleagured school system, which has been... [...]
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  Posted: April 01, 2008, 10:09pm EDT
  

• Hamilton-Wenham School Committee ask for $1.9 million override

  The Hamilton-Wenham Regional School Committee voted Monday night to request a Proposition 2 1/2 override to help fund its fiscal 2009 budget. According to an e-mail from Superintendent Marinel McGrath, the override will cost individual taxpayers an average of... [...]
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  Posted: April 01, 2008, 12:35pm EDT