Lakeville to vote on tax override at May 19 special town election

LAKEVILLE — On Tuesday, May 19, Lakeville voters will be asked to either approve or deny a Proposition 2 ½ override to meet the town’s fiscal year 2027 budget request.

Proposition 2 ½ states that a town or city cannot increase its total property tax by more than 2.5%, unless residents approve of an override or debt exclusion.

An override is a permanent property tax increase that’s designed to grant a community the ability to fund recurring costs that will likely continue in future years.

A debt exclusion is a temporary increase that would only last during the lifetime of a specific capital project, which doesn’t apply in this situation.

If voters approve of the override in the May 19 election, it will be added to the June 8 Town Meeting warrant, where it must also be approved before going into effect.

The question will appear in three parts on the ballot to spread out the override — which would be $4,915,700 — across three years.

If all three parts are approved, the override would go into effect across three years, beginning with $2,615,700 on July 1, 2026, followed by $1.3 million on July 1, 2027 and $1 million on July 1, 2028.

Town Administrator Andrew Sukeforth said the decision to split the override into three parts was generated by the observation that there’s a “big need” for an increase over the next three to five years.

He noted that if the override were enacted in one year the tax increase would be $1,000.

“We wanted to split that out into three years,” he said.

Sukeforth noted that by structuring the ballot this way it would “allow taxpayers to plan accordingly.”

“Obviously, no one wants to see their taxes go up, but it allows the planning schedule, and we’re not holding on to your money in the interim,” said Finance Director Michael Ellis.

If voters vote against the override in May then it won’t go to Town Meeting, or if Town Meeting members vote against the override, the town and school departments will have to reduce their budgets.

During an informational meeting on Saturday, April 25, Sukeforth, Ellis and John Higgins, the director of finance and operations in the Freetown Lakeville School District, reviewed the cuts Lakeville would face if the override doesn’t pass.

On the school level, 56 faculty and staff positions would be cut across the district, leading to larger class sizes, cutting library classes, losing access to new Chromebooks and potentially hindering students’ progress in math, reading and writing.

A number of town employee positions would either be eliminated, become part-time or have their hours reduced. This includes the elimination of the vacant town planner position, converting the assessor and assistant treasurer-collector positions to part-time and reducing the hours of the human resources assistant, human resources director and the assistant town accountant positions.

One full time police patrolman position that’s currently vacant would also be eliminated, as well as a full time firefighter position and 20 part-time call firefighters.

The Department of Public Works would also see a budget cut of $100,000, which would decrease road maintenance work like line painting and cutting grass at facilities.

Voting will take place on Tuesday, May 19 between the hours of 12 p.m. and 8 p.m. at the Loon Pond Lodge, located at 28 Precinct St.

There will be additional information sessions before election day on Wednesday, April 29, May 6 and May 13. All three meetings will be held at the Lakeville Public Library from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.