Town Meeting on Tuesday approved spending $4.5 million to be raised through a Proposition 21/2 tax override after first accepting a bare-bones balanced budget that will go into effect if voters do not approve an override.

It is now up to Selectmen to decide whether and when to put the override question to voters.

As approved by Town Meeting, override money would be used to keep the library open and Council of Aging in operation, retain 12 school positions, fund repairs to town buildings, and – in the words of several town officials – put Wareham’s finances in good shape for the future.

Town Meeting voters were not being asked to vote on whether they wanted an override but, rather, on how to spend the money if an override passes. It was evident from the range of remarks that some “yes” votes were in favor of an override and other “yes” votes were simply in favor of letting the full town vote on an override.

"I want to ask you to allow the people of the town, all of the voters, to make the decision, to allow it on the ballot and let everyone decide what's good for the community, not just the [261] that came to town meeting tonight," Selectman Patrick Tropeano said to the voting body at Town Meeting Tuesday night

The override would provide for millions in capital improvements and stabilization funding for the town and schools, as well as immediate funding to keep the library and the council on aging afloat. The override is also able to provide funding for positions and equipment in the police department, municipal maintenance department, the schools and other town departments.

Selectmen and members of the Finance Committee urged voters to allow the measure to go to a ballot and be decided by the town at large. Town Meeting voted to appropriate the $4.5 million should an override be passed by special election no later than Aug. 1. If the override were to fail at the ballot box, the town would operate with the approved balanced budget that includes the loss of 45 town employees, 34 school employees and provides little to no funding for the library and council on aging.

"I am very mindful to what this will mean for people on fixed or limited incomes," said Selectman Peter Teitelbaum.

The override would cost $143 per year for every $100,000 of assessed home value. A homeowner assessed at $500,000 would pay roughly $715.

Finance Committee Vice-chairman Marilyn Donahue explained why the time for an override had come. She acknowledged that the town had made poor financial decisions in the past, but that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. She said after making the initial cuts to this year's budget, the Finance Committee, School Committee and Selectmen all came to the conclusion that an override was needed. Donahue said the override needed to include cuts, combine services and a provide a long term plan.

"We needed to ask for enough money so at the end of five years Wareham would be a fiscally stable and viable town," she said.

Wareham resident Margaret Ishihara asked about the specifics surrounding the $500,000 in the override going toward the stabilization fund and the $1.1 million worth of school and town capital improvements.

"Having a good stabilization fund is a prudent fiscal measure, it's part of making town fiscally sound," Town Administrator Derek Sullivan said. He added that having sufficient stabilization funds leads to better borrowing rates for the town and that the state Department of Revenue was unhappy with the $411,000 that was present in the town's stabilization fund at the end of last year.

He said the capital improvements funds would provide for a generator at the police station and portable radios for the police officers, new information technology and accounting equipment for the town, a school security upgrade and new boiler at the high school among other improvements.

Wareham Schools Superintendent Kimberly Shaver-Hood defended the schools from the criticisms she heard over the last year, such as teachers and administrators are paid too much. She said compared to surrounding districts, Wareham has equal to or fewer administrators and the teachers receive equal to or lower pay.

She said the override would restore over a third of school positions that were lost as part of the over $1.6 million in budget cuts the schools made this year.

A number of residents voiced approval for the article and for the way the town officials have collaborated and cooperated.

"The override question has come up before, and this is the first time since I've come to town meeting that I've ever heard the word 'plan'," said resident Bill Heany.

"Our kids needs the opportunities the kids before them have had," said 37-year resident Donna Ashley. "My concern is what happens to the town if we don't do this."

See below for related stories on Town Meeting.