To the Editor:
At our Annual Town Meeting on May 4 and the Town Election May 11, Essex residents are being asked to weigh in on this year’s operating budget. This includes consideration of two Proposition 2½ overrides: $268,722 for the Town General Budget and $185,727 for MERSD. I’m often asked about the budget, so I thought I would write this letter to address some of the questions I’m hearing.
Although there are two overrides this year, the financial impact on the average taxpayer is lower than last year because the combined override of $454,449 is 35% less than last year's single override of $698,196. Based on the state's tax impact calculator, passage would add an estimated $293 annually to the average single-family tax bill. For a home assessed at $750,000, the increase would be about $240 a year. For a home at $1,050,000, it's roughly $336.
This is not to downplay the impact of those increases on households. However, if overrides fail, taxes still rise to the levy limit (the override only covers costs beyond that) and underlying budget pressures don't disappear. The question is whether they are funded through recurring revenue or addressed through service reductions and one-time measures.
How did we get to this point? The overall total operating budget comprising the Town General Budget, sewer, water, MERSD, and the Essex Tech is up 2.92% across the board. While each component stands as its own line item, they are all interrelated because the Proposition 2½ levy limit exists at the total operating budget level. The Town General Budget and MERSD Budget are, by far, the two biggest components of the operating budget.
After a period of austerity in which annual Town General Budget increases were held as low as 1.25%, we began to see a correction last year with a 5.57% increase. This increase did not have a dedicated override like this year, but it was made possible by drawing on funds made available by shifting school costs into the MERSD override. In addition, one-time revenues, like a large assessor overlay credit, provided a temporary fix that needed to be addressed this year.
This year, the Town General Budget is increasing 8.08%. This is being driven by real pressures like a cost-of-living adjustment for most employees, wage increases to attract and retain employees, a new full-time position in the Fire Department, pension costs, and a 14.4% spike in health insurance. These are not discretionary additions so much as known challenges. It’s worth noting that there have been no Town General overrides for over two decades
On the school side, coming off of last year’s override, this year’s MERSD increase of 3.62% is consistent with its historical average. School budgets routinely outpace 2.5% growth due to collective bargaining, healthcare costs, and legally mandated special education obligations. The reason a MERSD override is needed this year isn't that the school budget is unusually high, but that, with concurrent Town General Budget increases, there is not sufficient room under the levy limit to absorb the school increase.
This situation may feel exhausting or like a perfect storm, but Essex is not an outlier. Across Massachusetts, municipalities periodically use overrides to address the gap between revenue limits and rising costs as part of their long-term financial planning. Proposition 2½ is designed to ensure that these decisions ultimately rest with voters. Therefore, as we approach Town Meeting and the Town Election, it is important to evaluate these questions based on the facts: what is driving the budget, what options exist, and what the consequences of each path may be. Voters have the opportunity to weigh in at both steps, and participation in both is essential to ensuring the outcome reflects the will of the community.
Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions.
Thank you,
Sarah Wolf and Brian Gressler
Committee for Essex & Manchester Essex Regional School District FY27 Overrides
Essex
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