HANOVER – Voters will be asked to decide on a permanent tax increase at the next town meeting and election in May.

The town is asking for a little over $6 million to help the town and school department cover increasing costs and replace COVID-era federal grants that will end this year.

The average increase for the average Hanover home would be $1,400, the town said. Homeowners can determine approximately how much of an increase the override would cost with a calculator located on the town’s website, although the tax rate and home values have not yet been certified by the state Department of Revenue.

A home with an assessed value of $750,000 could pay $1,088 more in annual property taxes if the override passes, for example. A home with an assessed value of $1.17 million would pay about $1,700 more.

“If the override budget passes, we do not anticipate layoffs,” Town Manager Joe Colangelo said.

But if the override budget fails, the town would face cuts that include laying off 41 school personnel including 30 teachers, larger class sizes, one fewer police officer for at least 12 hours a day, one firefighter position eliminated and reducing veterans’ services provided by the town, including $100,000, which would cut the Behavior and Mental Health Veterans Program. The school department would face the steepest cut at $2.7 million, and about 77% of its budget is salary.

More: Braintree school budget plan: Cut 33 jobs. Will there be a tax override vote?

The town’s override budget would support a 10% increase over the current budget, or about $7.3 million. If this budget does not pass, the town would revert to a base budget with a 4.3% increase, or $3 million.

Reasons for the override request include higher special education costs, sunsetting federal dollars and higher assessments for Plymouth County Retirement and South Shore Vo-Tech.

The town noted that special education costs increased 30.8% in fiscal 2022 and 33.3% in fiscal 2023. The assessment for the technical school went up 14% in five years, and the retirement assessment went up almost 10% in five years.

To increase taxes, voters would first have to approve the budget that accounts for a tax override at town meeting May 6. If that happens, a May 18 ballot question will ask voters whether to approve that override.

The last time Hanover passed a tax override was 1998.

Colangelo said that the override budget not only fully funds the town and school department, but would move the town away from using free cash to support the operating budget.

“We were really aggressive in obtaining and utilizing those federal funds,” Colangelo said, referring to resources like the CARES Act, the American Rescue Plan Act and funds from FEMA. 

With more free cash stowed away, the town was able to “give property taxpayers a break,” he said, and use this money to pay for town expenses.

Between fiscal 2014 and 2020, Hanover used between $250,000 and $750,000 in free cash each year toward the budget. In the years since the pandemic, the town used between $1 million and $2 million.

“It’s not incorrect to use free cash to supplement the operating budget, but really what you want to do with free cash is have it there to do capital purchases,” Colangelo said, such as police cruisers or plow trucks.

Municipalities in Massachusetts are restricted in how much revenue they can get from property taxes due to Proposition 2½. Only voters can decide whether their respective town or city should increase or decrease this limit. These asks can come in the form of an override, which is a permanent increase, or an exclusion, which is a temporary increase meant to pay for loans or capital projects.

Town meeting will take place at Hanover High School on Monday, May 6 at 7:30 p.m. The town's election will be Saturday, May 18.

Hannah Morse covers growth and development for The Patriot Ledger. Contact her at [email protected].

News Source : https://www.patriotledger.com/story/news/2024/05/01/hanover-ma-layoffs-or-tax-override-town-meeting/73426646007/