North Andover needs a new preschool building and a new police station. The Board of Selectmen and Town Manager Mark Rees say these projects can be financed within the town's operating budget.
That's great. We're all for a community living within its means. It's what the families whose taxes support the town must do every day.
But North Andover's Finance Committee is worried about the impact of the projects on the town's budget. The committee instead is considering asking voters to approve a $7.7 million debt exclusion override to Proposition 21/2 to pay for them.
North Andover voters last year approved a general override of $1.65 million to fund general operations. Much of that money went to the school system.
A general override allows a community to raise permanently its tax levy beyond the usual constraints of Proposition 21/2. A debt exclusion override allows the town to exceed Proposition 21/2 limits for a particular project. Once the project is paid for, the tax returns to its previous level.
There is virtually no way North Andover voters are going to support overrides in consecutive years. North Andover leaders know that. So the Finance Committee plan, if approved, would surely scuttle the projects.
North Andover needs the preschool building. School Committee Chairman Barbara Whidden says the elementary schools are overcrowded. The 10-room preschool would cost $4 million, $2 million of which is already available.
The police station, in the words of Selectman Rosemary Smedile, is a lawsuit waiting to happen. The station is too small and suffers from a mold infestation. A plan exists to purchase the former Merrimack Valley Federal Credit Union and convert it to a police station at an estimated cost of $5.7 million.
The Finance Committee last year approved funding the police station as part of the capital improvement plan in the town's budget, Smedile said. Changing its plan now would waste nearly $200,000 the town has already spent on designs, she said.
Town Meeting is this Tuesday. It is ludicrous for the Finance Committee to suggest presenting an override question to voters at this late date.
The selectmen and the town manager believe the projects can be funded out of the operating budget. That's the plan that should be submitted to Town Meeting.
