Override on MA Town Ballot Would Eight Firefighters

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FALMOUTH, MA—A ballot question at this year's annual town election in May will ask voters for a Proposition 2½ override to fund eight new firefighter positions.

The Board of Selectmen unanimously voted Monday to put the question on the ballot for the May 19 election. That date could change depending on the status of the coronavirus shutdown.

Voters at annual town meeting must first approve putting the question on the ballot. The spring session, originally scheduled for April 13, has been postponed to three Mondays following the expiration of the governor's declared state of emergency relative to the coronavirus outbreak.

If the override passes, the tax rate would increase 13 cents per $1,000 valuation, according to Finance Director Jennifer Mullen. The town will use the money in the first year to fund the new positions.

"I don't want to keep rolling the dice," Selectman Doug Brown said Monday. "I think we need to take this to the voters and let them decide. I think the voters will support it."

Monday's meeting was conducted by video chat. Selectmen Chairman Megan English-Braga read a letter Monday night from Joseph Netto, a Falmouth resident and town meeting member, during the meeting's public comment period.

"These are uncertain times," Netto wrote in his letter. "Please do your part and protect the citizen taxpayers of Falmouth. We have many stores in Falmouth closed, employees out of work and you're going to consider raising taxes for perpetuity tonight by placing it on the ballot."

Netto wrote that the override can be revisited later when the town has a clear economic future.

Mullen said Monday that it is premature to tweak the budget and cut services despite the time of economic uncertainty.

"There's so many options right now, and the first option isn't really going to the budget [to make cuts]," Mullen said.

The town has built up good reserves, Mullen said.

"When it does go on the ballot, and we do have the town election, if the community feels that it's too expensive, they could vote no," Mullen said. "But right now I think we're in a good position of how we're going to weather this storm."

English-Braga said the town has been fairly conservative with its budgeting and has favored letting voters decide at town meeting.

Eight additional firefighters would help the Fire Department operate safely, Brown said, guaranteeing that at least two firefighters will be staffed to operate an apparatus at any given time.

"I think that this is something that's going to pass," he said. "We'll take a big setback, but we'll recover. We can't just wait forever and hope that we're not going to have a major problem in the situation that we're in."

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