Letter to the Editor:

When the Wareham Finance Committee first starting talking about an override for FY2015, we called it a “Revenue Adjustment” because everyone knows that an override will never pass in Wareham.  Even though most people don’t know what an override is, they know it must be a bad thing, because no one wants it to happen.

Override is not a dirty word.  It is a valuable financial tool, and we need to use it now.   Override is a tool given by the Legislature to towns as a way to offset the problem left by the limitations of Proposition 2½. That problem is called a structural deficit, which is what happens when expenses increase at a faster rate than revenues increase. You can’t cut your way out of a structural deficit.  At some point you reach the limit of your ability to cut spending effectively or wisely.

Why does Wareham have this problem?  In Massachusetts, the property tax is the largest source of revenue for most cities and towns to fund their public services.  When it was enacted in 1980, Proposition 2½ set limits to the amount that towns can raise their tax levy each year. Part of Wareham’s problem is that we started off with a very low tax levy. In 1980 the median house price in Wareham was under $49,000.  So while other towns’ tax levies increased at a much larger dollar figure, Wareham’s tax levy increased slowly.  No successful effort was ever made to correct this problem in Wareham.

What do other towns do? Other towns use overrides.  The Town of Bourne used a $2.3 million override in 1989 to adjust their revenue, followed by a $1.5 million override in 2005 and a smaller one a few years later to fund police services. In fact, most towns in the state have used overrides in some form: to purchase capital items, including school buses, police cruisers, ambulances, and other vehicles and equipment; to pay for their regional school assessment, to pave roads, to pay for operating budgets and school budgets; and to contribute to stabilization.  Wareham has paid for what it can, but has ignored some of these items for years.

Who will be affected if Wareham does not pass the override?   Almost everyone will be affected if we don’t pass the override.  Wareham made $2.5 million in cuts to balance this year's budget which will result in significantly reduced services. Some town employees (including teachers and school personnel) will lose their jobs; seniors will lose the Council on Aging; the main library will be closed and library patrons will have very limited service at the Spinney branch in Onset.  Public safety will continue to be a concern as our police force is stretched thin.  Town owned property will continue to deteriorate and pot holes abound since seven municipal workers have to cover the entire town, including the cemeteries, and homeowners will continue to see a decline in their property values.  Our real estate taxes will continue to increase as we are unable to attract new growth and those of us left will have to make up the difference for foreclosures which will happen as people can't sell their homes. State aid will decrease and assessments will increase as more families take their children out of the school system.

This should not be Wareham's future.  Wareham deserves better.  Please vote YES on June 17th.

Marilyn C. Donahue, Vice-Chair, Wareham Finance Committee

President, Invest in Wareham, Inc.    www.investinwareham.com