When is the election?

Tuesday, March 14, 2023 - See your polling location here.

What’s on the ballot?

Question 1

Shall the City of Newton be allowed to assess an additional $9,175,000 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of funding Public Schools for student needs, street and sidewalk paving and safety improvements, tree planting and maintenance, park and recreational facility improvements and maintenance, improvements to Horace Mann Elementary School, sustainability and climate resiliency actions, and Senior Services programming and operations for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2023?

Question 2

Shall the City of Newton be allowed to exempt from the provisions of Proposition 2 1/2, so called, the amounts required to pay for the bonds issued in order to renovate or replace the Countryside Elementary School?

Question 3

Shall the City of Newton be allowed to exempt from the provisions of Proposition 2 1/2, so called, the amounts required to pay for the bonds issued in order to renovate or replace the Franklin Elementary School?

Operating Override Projects And Programs

		Annual Amount
	Supporting Student Needs	$4,500,000
	Horace Mann Elementary School	$775,000
	Parks, Fields and Playgrounds	$1,000,000
	Sustainability and Climate Resilience	$500,000
	Plant and Nurture Trees	$500,000
	Senior Services and Programs	$500,000
	Street Paving and Street Safety	$1,400,000

Debt Exclusion Projects

	Countryside Elementary School	$2,300,000
	Franklin Elementary School	$3,500,000

Combined Debt Exclusion and Operating Override Total

$14,975,000

What are “Operating" and "Debt Exclusion" Overrides?

Proposition 2 ½ refers to a Massachusetts law enacted in 1980 that strictly limits the amount of property tax revenue a community can raise through real and personal property taxes. This revenue is technically called the Tax Levy  ̶  or usually simply the Levy. Prop 2 ½ limits how much the levy can be increased from year-to-year. The maximum amount a community can levy in any given year is called the Levy Limit.

Under Proposition 2 ½, a community’s levy limit increases automatically by an incremental increase of 2.5% of the prior year’s levy limit (hence the law’s nickname).

A community can exceed its levy limit with voter approval. Prop 2 ½  gives communities flexibility to support local spending for schools and municipal operations. Communities can levy above its levy limit permanently or temporarily by passing by majority vote in an election an override or a debt exclusion override.

By passing an Override a community can assess taxes in excess of the automatic annual 2.5% increase and any increase due to new growth or its Levy Limit. An override results in a permanent increase in the levy limit of a community. These funds can be used for both operating and capital expenses. For example, override funds could be used for things like educating students, paving roads, making park improvements, or building a new school or fire station.

Newton voters have approved overrides twice. In 2002 voters approved an override of $11.5 million. In 2013 they approved an override of $8.4 million which included funds for the new Zervas Elementary School building, and the Fire Headquarters and Fire Station 3 buildings. It also included funding for street paving and police personnel, cruisers and equipment. (At the same special election in 2013, Newton’s voters approved two debt exclusion overrides, described below.)

An Override, General Override, Proposition 2½ Override, or an Operating Override are all different names for the same thing, an override.

By passing a Debt Exclusion (commonly referred to as a Debt Exclusion Override) a community can assess additional taxes to pay the debt service from bonding (principal and interest costs) for a specific capital project. These funds are used for capital expenses such as a new or renovated school.  The additional amount is added to the Levy Limit for the life of the debt only. Thus, unlike overrides, debt exclusion overrides do not become part of the base used to calculate future years’ levy limits. The increase is temporary and only for the life of the bonds (which typically are 30 years).

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