Decision Day

Voters are set to decide Tuesday whether to approve a $1,067,157 operating budget override of Proposition 2 1/2 that would increase taxes about $284 for a $400,000 home.

State law limits increases in a town’s tax levy to 2.5 percent plus allowances for new growth unless voters at Town Meeting and a town election approve a further increase.

The proposed override would increase property taxes 71 cents per $1,000 assessed, and would be a permanent tax increase, since future increases in the town’s tax levy would be based on the higher amount.

If the override fails, town officials say they’d have to lay off a police officer, eliminate training for firefighters, and keep the town library closed an additional five hours a week.

Elementary school officials say teacher layoffs may be in the offing if the override fails, though it’s not clear at this point how many there would be and whether they would come from the ranks of classroom teachers, reading specialists, or special education.

The same poor economy that is hurting town revenues is also hurting many Norfolk residents, and local officials are well aware that many take a dim view of tax increases at such a time.

Rob Garrity, chairman of the Norfolk Board of Selectmen, said the town urgently needs the money from an override and that selectmen wouldn’t ask for it otherwise.

“I know times are very difficult for people — that’s why we’re having a hard time with the town budget: state tax revenues based on sales tax and income tax are down and they’re cutting their funding to us. The amount of additional money the override would bring in only replaces the state aid we’ve lost over the past two years,” Garrity said in an email message. “People need to decide what’s an acceptable level of support for their community. This override also represents honest budgeting; without the override we will continue to dramatically underfund snow and ice removal, and continue to put off necessary capital spending. We can only push today’s costs into the future for so long. For myself, keeping a full police department, the level of service we’ve come to expect from the schools (including a music program accessible to all), and ensuring honest budgeting all are more important than the small additional amount of money I will have to pay each month.”

Town Administrator Jack Hathaway noted that some people have argued that the proposed override is too big because many people can’t afford it and that others have argued that it’s too small because it doesn’t really meet the town’s needs. But he said the town urgently needs the money an override would bring.

Hathaway notes that the town has lost $1 million in local aid from the state during the last four years, increasing reliance on the local property tax.

School Committee member Ross Gilleland noted this week that while the elementary schools would get almost $300,000 from the override, that wouldn’t even bring the school district up to level funding with the current school year. (And school officials always say that even level funding amounts to a cut in services, because of increases in costs and salaries.)

“The override is still going to be 1 percent less than level-funded. We’re not even going to be where we want to be with the override,” Gilelland said during the School Committee meeting this past Wednesday night. “… We’re not going to have everything that we had this year.”

Operating budget overrides increase the town’s operating budget permanently, and while the increases must go for their stated purposes during the first fiscal year, after that town officials can use the money for other purposes.

So what will the town have with an override in the coming fiscal year? Here below is a breakdown:

Police

Selectmen say they have to eliminate a police officer’s job if the override fails, bringing the department down to 16 officers. The force is currently less than what the Federal Bureau of Investigation recommends for a town Norfolk’s size.

The Police Department would receive $98,952 from the override. Without it, the police will have to come up with about $30,000 in additional budget cuts even after the police officer is laid off.

Fire Department

The Norfolk Fire Department won’t lose any firefighters if the override fails, but it would lose all its money for training.

The Fire Department would also lose a lot of its budget for overtime pay for firefighters who are called back outside of their normal shifts to address emergencies.

The Fire Department needs all 13 firefighters it currently has in order to maintain its Advanced Life Support paramedic services. Even without the override the department would keep the current staffing level, but it would be stretched to its limit if it has to deal with an unusual number of emergencies.

The Fire Department would receive $60,061 from the override.

King Philip

The grades-7-through-12 King Philip regional school system won’t be affected by the override, even though $77,000 of it is slated for King Philip.

That’s because Norfolk is on the hook for that money even if the override fails, since Wrentham and Plainville have already approved commensurate budgets for King Philip.

But if the override fails, Norfolk will have to come up with the extra $77,000 through other revenues (like the new 0.75 percent local-option meals tax) or from decreasing other budgets.

K-6 Schools

The situation with the elementary schools is murky.

But school officials say they fear they may have to make significant budget cuts if the override fails.

School officials say they don’t know whether teachers will accept a wage freeze or unpaid furlough days that would help close a projected budget gap.

“The teachers are working with the town to try to come up with some solutions to try to reduce the overall budget impact,” School Committee chairman Shawn Dooley said during the School Committee meeting this past Wednesday night.

School officials say the situation is fluid enough that it’s unclear what cuts in educational offerings they would have to make if the override fails and if concessions from the teachers either don’t happen or aren’t enough.

School officials say aspects of the reading program may be at stake, which teachers say would hurt their ability to intervene with children who are having trouble reading in the early grades.

It’s possible that some so-called regular-education classroom teachers or special-education teachers could be eliminated, though school officials haven’t said how many.

The elementary schools would get $297,496 from the override, which would go toward closing a projected budget gap of $811,000.

The School Committee has also approved a number of budget cuts and cost reductions.

Eliminating the half-time principal at H. Olive Day School would save about $30,000.

The new principal at Freeman-Centennial School, Lisa Altham-Hickey, stands to earn about $15,000 a year less than her predecessor, Lucia Godfrey.

Incoming interim superintendent Claire Jackson says she doesn’t plan to replace the school district’s special education director, Carol Gahan, whose contract the School Committee opted not to renew. That will save about $100,000, though Jackson plans to augment the duties of other special education specialists to make up for the loss.

The school district figures to spend $35,000 less on retirements than originally budgeted.

The school district has been planning all along to eliminate one sixth-grade teacher because an enrollment drop makes the position unnecessary. That saves $45,000.

The new superintendent is eliminating professional development stipends, saving $42,000.

School officials hope to realize a $30,000 increase in revenue from the before-school and after school School Age Child Care program.

The School Committee can also use $32,000 from past bus fees that are now sitting in a revolving account.

Fee increases are likely to bring in significant amounts of cash, including a $180-per-child bus fee (a doubling of the current $90 bus fee). Other fees are less certain, as the School Committee appears to be reconsidering the amount of a band fee and fees for prekindergarten and full-day kindergarten. But it seems likely some sort of band fee will be implemented and that prekindergarten and full-day kindergarten will see some sort of increase.

Library

Norfolk Public Library would reduce its hours to 41 per week, down from 47 currently, if the override fails.

Even if the override passes, the library will still lose one hour a week, down to 46.

If the library drops below 40 hours a week it would lose state certification, which would prevent it from getting state funding.

The library would get $19,164 from the override.

Town Facilities

The town is planning to decrease budgeting for preventative maintenance and repairs, which lead to problems if any of the systems in town buildings such as heating, ventilation, and cooling fail.

The facilities budget would get $35,000 from the override.

Snow and Ice

The town is deficit-funding its snow and ice budget, which is below what the town spends every year to remove snow and ice from the roads during the winter.

The snow-and-ice budget would get $171,000 from the override, which would bring the yearly budget to about $300,000, which is just below the average the town has spent on snow and ice during the last 10 years.

Capital Budget

The town would steer $192,000 from the override into a capital budget to fund purchases of items with a long-term shelf value outside of the town’s operating budget.

Polls for the special town election are scheduled to be open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 22 at H. Olive Day School at 232 Main Street. Polls are in the gym at the rear of the building.

Override Election

Tuesday, June 22

7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

H. Olive Day School gym

232 Main Street