MELROSE — The group that fought successfully for passage of a record $13.5 million override of Proposition 2 1/2 was well-funded and significantly outspent those trying to keep property taxes down.
According to campaign finance reports due before the November 4 election, Yes for Melrose raised $44,933.43 between March 2 and October 17, compared with the $3,375 raised by Keep Melrose Affordable to All in roughly the same period.
Yes for Melrose had plenty of fuel in its financial tank and spent it on things like fundraising events, software, marketing, printing, campaign buttons, office supplies, website services and advertising. Up to October 17, the override advocates spent $28,951 and had just under $16,000 left in its coffers for the final push to Election Day.
By stark contrast, KMATA spent $2,537 and had $838 left as of October 24.
All campaign finance reports, including those of candidates for elected office, can be found on the city’s Elections Office website.
The next report, covering year’s end, is due January 20.
About 52 percent of the city’s 21,471 registered voters cast ballots in the November 4 election, considered one of the most important in recent memory.
There was a lot of money at stake. With $13.5 million added to the tax levy every year, municipal government and the city’s schools should operate very comfortably. The override passed last week is widely believed to be the highest amount passed since voters across Massachusetts passed the budget-limiting Proposition 2 1/2 45 years ago. It went into effect in 1982.
For the average single-family home in Melrose (assessed at $817,630), taxes will increase by $1,374 per year.
Officials will now restore and strengthen services. Specifically, 17 school, five public works, and two police officer positions (salaries and benefits); city and school employee union contracts and benefits; school technology and curriculum needs; public works, senior center, veterans services, and library programs; and repairs and maintenance to roads, sidewalks, buildings, and parks.
Those who fought against the override’s passage had a number of issues, including the fact that voters passed a Proposition 2 1/2 debt exclusion to the tune of $130 million just two years ago. Homeowners will begin seeing an increase in their yearly property tax bill in 2027 that will fund new or greatly improved public safety buildings. The average single-family homeowner will shell out $875 a year for those projects.
A debt exclusion of Proposition 2 1/2 raises more in taxes for a specific period of time. An override, essentially, raises taxes forever.
Melrose has not passed many overrides of Proposition 2 1/2, but Yes for Melrose supporters said this time the city really needed the money.
Last month, the group wrote, in part, “Chronic underfunding has a price. With dozens of positions cut in our schools and city departments in recent years, the city has reached a breaking point.
“Budget cuts have meant the elimination of positions across public works, fire, police and city hall departments. Reductions in staff and services have been felt everywhere from public safety, to the Milano Senior Center, to library hours, to reduced city yard hours, to reduced roadway line painting and sign replacements and even the elimination of trash barrels at public parks. We have cut support for local economic development and many other services residents want and need. In short, we have a problem.
“In our schools, cuts have affected everything from class size to course offerings. Teachers have longer student rosters and classrooms have fewer trained adults. When we underfund, we also lose support staff who help struggling students early on which leads to higher needs (and costs) down the road. It can also mean we fail to keep pace with peer districts in course offerings, extracurriculars and technology and that we burn out our teachers and lose them to better-funded districts. The override isn’t about funding bells and whistles in the schools. It’s about the basics, reading support, keeping students current in STEM subjects, manageable class sizes and the staff to meet students’ needs and prepare them for college and careers.
“As a community, a very challenging question we need to ask ourselves is this what’s next? If the override does not pass, what will we be forced to cut next year? City leadership has already explained that at least $4 million in cuts will be needed next year alone with deepening cuts in the years to follow. And that says nothing of the many public employee contracts that will need to be settled in the next two years, including for our teachers.”