Mary Byrne
Campaign teams have emerged on either side of the debate over whether Belmont should pass an $8.4 million override this spring.
“We appreciate the magnitude of this,” Select Board Chair Roy Epstein said earlier this month when the board voted unanimously to place the question on the April 2 ballot. “It’s impossible for everybody to be happy, but I do believe that we’ve converged at a number that will be acceptable by a large number of people. I don’t know that we can ask for more than that.”
According to town officials, Belmont faces a $6.5 million budget gap in the next fiscal year, which will continue to grow over the following two fiscal years as anticipated expenses outpace expected revenue. Epstein previously said a proposed override would last three to six years before more intervention is needed.
Monday night, the Select Board voted to list the override as Question 1 on the ballot.
Since 1990, Belmont has passed four overrides, totaling nearly $12 million, according to a presentation town officials shared in advance of the vote in 2021.
The town passed a $4.5 million override in 2015 to fund schools, roads and sidewalks, and debt service for capital. Before that, voters passed a $2.4 million override in 2002 to address a late cut in state aid. In 2001, voters passed a $3 million override to fund roads, schools, and town services, and in 1990, they passed a nearly $2.1 million override.
Invest in Belmont
Erin Rowland, campaign manager for Invest in Belmont, the campaign urging voters to vote ‘Yes’ on the ballot question this April, said supporters of Invest in Belmont support the town’s decision to place an override on the ballot.
“This is an opportunity to say what residents value about Belmont and avoid devastating cuts that will permanently change our community,” said Rowland, a 12-year resident.
Those in the ‘Yes’ camp echo the concern of town officials that the failure to pass an override would lead to drastic cuts to personnel and services at the schools, public safety, and public works.
“We come together as a campaign to help Belmont build a bridge to a more financially stable, sustainable future,” she said.
No Override
On the other side of the debate are voters who believe the override is “too much to ask.”
Wayne Wild, chair of the No Override campaign, argued residents have already “generously stepped up” by passing more than $358 million in debt exclusions to fund the construction of a new skating rink, library, and middle and high school.
Therefore, he and others on the No Override campaign ask residents to vote ‘No’ in April, letting town officials know “they can’t keep increasing spending every year and expect taxpayers to pay.”
“Our top town and school officials are supposed to figure out how the town can craft and operate under a balanced budget, and that’s what we’re urging them to do,” Sunyoung Hong said in a statement to The Voice. “Our role is simply to advocate for the many residents who will be negatively affected by such an extremely large tax increase – a tax increase which is driven by the failure of leadership to rein in spending in the three years since that directive was resoundingly delivered with the defeat of the 2021 proposed override.”
