Marblehead voters to face 10 debt exclusion overrides

MARBLEHEAD – Now that Marbleheaders have held their annual town election, their attention will turn to the June 15 special election, in which they will decide the fate of a record-setting 10 debt exclusion overrides with a total value of $56.9 million.At Town Meeting, Town Administrator Tony Sasso said the town faces "an incredible number of debt exclusion overrides" and the voters approved placing them on the ballot by wide margins. What is the tax impact if all 10 questions are passed?Because the amounts are funded by bond issues – and the town is currently enjoying its highest-ever AAA bond rating, one of 21 Massachusetts communities to reach that level and 159 in the United States – the total borrowing required will add 83 cents to the town’s $9.57 tax rate if all questions are approved. That tax hike will add $423.27 to the $4,900 annual tax bill for a $512,000 median home, an 8.6 percent hike for the first year only.Those amounts include 15.4 tax rate cents and $78.70 median home tax bill costs for two one-year bond issues and 3.2 cents and $16.43 median home tax bill costs that are attached to five-year bond issues.This year’s tax rate resulted in a $235 or 5 percent tax bill hike for a median home.Advocates for each spending measure are sure to point out that $423.27 a year comes to $8.14 a week, less than the price of a first-run movie ticket.In establishing the warrant for the special election Friday morning, selectmen listed the ballot questions in the order in which Town Meeting voters approved them.Question 1 is the landfill cap and transfer station construction project. The landfill cap is state-mandated. The cost of the project is $22.2 million and it will be funded by a 20-year bond issue. The project will add 31 cents to the tax rate and $159.65 to the annual tax bill for a median home for the term of the bond issue.Question 2 seeks $706,961 for the landfill monitoring program, which will be raised with a one-year short-term bond issue, adding 13.5 cents to the tax rate and $68.95 to the annual median home tax bill for one year.Question 3 concerns the $899.955 purchase of a landfill-contaminated home at 57 Stony Brook Road. The 20-year debt exclusion will add 1.3 cents to the tax rate and $6.46 to the annual median home tax bill for the term of the bond issue.Question 4 seeks $100,000 for additional sidewalk repair, funded through a one-year short term bond issue. It will add 1.9 cents to the tax rate and $9.75 to the annual median home tax bill for one year.Question 5 concerns the purchase of a vacant 195 Pleasant St. gas station, to enhance the traffic safety program planned for Pleasant Street, at a cost of $305,000, funded with a 20-year bond issue. It will add 4/10 of a cent to the tax rate and $2.19 to the annual median home tax bill for the term of the bond issue.Question 6 will fund the $1.64 million Pleasant Street traffic safety program – the Massachusetts Highway Department will award the town a $400,000 grant to help with the cost – to be funded with a 10-year bond issue. It will add 2.9 cents to the tax rate and $15.09 to the annual median home tax bill for the term of the bond issue.Question 7 will fund $292,394 in access improvements at Abbot Public Library, funded through a five-year bond issue. It will add 1.3 cents to the tax rate and $6.47 to the annual tax bill for a median home for the term of the bond issue.Question 8 seeks $1.5 million for astro-turf at the Marblehead High football field, funded by a 10-year bond issue. It will add 3.6 cents to the tax rate and $18.25 to the annual median home tax bill for the term of the bond issue.Question 9 asks for $28.8 million for a new Glover-Eveleth school building, including $11.18 million in Massachusetts School Building Authority reimbursement (40 percent), funded with a 20-year bond issue. It will add 24.7 cents to the tax rate and $126.55 to the annual median home tax bill for the term of the bond issue.Question 10 will fund $450,000 for fur