Lakeville to host informational sessions on override

LAKEVILLE -- To help residents better understand the details on an upcoming tax override vote, four outreach sessions have been scheduled.

The informational sessions will be held from 9 to 10 a.m.  Saturday, April 25; 6 to 7 p.m. Wednesday April 29; 6 to 7 p.m. Wednesday May 6 and 6 to 7 p.m. Wednesday May 13. All will take place at the Lakeville Public Library.

Town officials have proposed the override to offset a significant budget deficit next year. The deficit has been attributed to rising fixed costs, shrinking local revenue and stagnant state aid.

State law known as Proposition 2 ½ requires communities to limit annual tax increases taxes each year to no more than 2.5 percent of the total assessed value of all taxable property. To raise more than this, voters must approve overrides.

If the tax override is approved for next year’s budget, an additional $2,615,700 would be raised from property taxes.

This translates to a tax increase of $513.26 for a household valued at $625,000, which is the average value in town.

In 2028, $1.3 million more would be raised and the final $1 million would be raised for the 2029 budget. By 2029, the scaled approach would result in a total tax increase of $970.18.

The town has two proposed budgets for next year. If the override is approved, the town would also reduce one position, reducing the town planner and principal assessor posts to part-time.  

All other services and personnel would essentially remain.

If the override is rejected, expenses will be cut significantly across operations, Town Administrator Andrew Sukeforth has said.

The town planner position would be eliminated and the principal assessor and assistant treasurer-collector roles would be reduced to part-time. The human resources director, assistant and assistant town accountant posts will be have reduced hours.

Twenty on-call firefighter positions would not be funded. One full-time firefighter and one full-time police officer position would be eliminated.

Education assessments would be cut by $1,475,353.

Representatives of the Freetown-Lakeville school district have said that without the override, 56 staff positions would be cut. The impact would lead to larger class sizes, closing of school libraries and fewer student services, district officials have said.

This would be the first general override in Lakeville in more than 30 years. The last override placed before voters took place in 1994.

In the last twenty years, two overrides were passed for school operations, one in 2004 and the other in 2013.