Tax hike likely in Revere with $55.5M bond approval

REVERE – Residents should brace for a tax hike as City Councilors approved $55.5 million in bonds Monday during a public hearing that focused mainly on building a new school.”I think it’s being shoved down our throats,” said City Council President Ira Novoselsky on Tuesday, who said he did not support the bonds, although he ultimately voted with his colleagues to approve. “I was taking a stand; I was thinking about the tax rate.”It remains unclear how much the tax increase would cost the owner of a median-priced house in Revere.Unlike Lynn, which has a city ordinance that limits how much councilors can bond without putting the matter before the voters Revere has no such ordinance. Therefore the council could approve the bond on its own, said Novoselsky who is also the Ward 2 councilor.Over 200 residents, including city officials and employees as well as parents attended the three-plus hour attended the hearing that, according to reports, became heated at times.”I received a lot of phone calls and e-mails today,” Novoselsky. “Many congratulated me on the way I ran the meeting ? and my stance.”Novoselsky said he understands the need for new school but believes the timing is wrong. Councilors didn’t have enough time to study the proposal, he said, and the fact that the vast majority of the audience seemed to be in favor of the bond didn’t help ease the pressure on them to approve.He is concerned however that it leaves the city very little financial leeway if an emergency should arise.”They’re using all of the 2 ? percent (tax) levy,” he said.The full effect of the bond won’t be felt until the 2016-17 fiscal year.Communities are only allowed by law to raise the tax levy by 2? percent per year. Novoselsky said if that money is earmarked for the bond it leaves nothing for salaries, insurance and items that tax money is typically used for. He is also not alone in his concern that the council was tackling too much too soon. Councilor at large Anthony Zambuto and Ward 4 Councilor Stephen Rhea both worried about a lack of information and a lack of time in which to study what they had.”I’m not against a new school, just not at this time” Novoselsky said.Revere has built four new schools, a new police and fire station since 2007 and this bond will come on top of those. The schools stand to receive 80 percent reimbursement from the state’s school building program but there are other ancillary items that will receive no reimbursement.In an open letter to residents posted on the city’s website, Mayor Rizzo explained that the bond also includes helping to fund a new Harry Dello Russo Stadium, develop parkland in West Revere by rehabbing two Little League fields and adding a softball field. The bond also provides funding to take up to five properties by eminent domain, three in order to build the new school and two for the park, Novoselsky said.The council still needs to decide if it will bond an additional $2.5 million to refurbish the old McKinley School to be used for municipal offices.Rizzo said the he made a promise more than 13 years ago to see through the construction of five new schools and he plans to do that. He stated in his letter, which can be seen in full on today’s editorial page in The Daily Item, that he has been committed since his election, to continue the work started by past administrators.”I will maintain that commitment as well as continuing to promote initiatives that I feel will make Revere a better place to live, work and raise a family,” he said.Novoselsky said it is those people he worries for.”I’m looking out for the people in my ward,” he said. “I have a lot of senior citizens that own property and a lot of young families who own property. Yeah, we need a new school but at what cost?”Chris Stevens can be reached at [email protected].