Keep Framingham Affordable
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| King to spell out details of potential override | Thursday, December 16, 2004 |
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| David McLaughlin 508-626-4338 | Metrowest Daily News |
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FRAMINGHAM -- The town manager will make his pitch tonight for an $86
million override to pay for an array of building renovations and other
projects that would mean bigger tax bills for 25 years.
Topping the list of proposed projects is Memorial Building renovations plus a three-level parking garage at $28.5 million, followed closely by road and drainage improvements at a price tag of $24 million. Town Manager George King will make his presentation for the debt exclusion override tonight to selectmen, the Finance Committee and the Capital Budget Committee. The proposal, he wrote, demonstrates the town's building and infrastructure needs, and if he did not present it to the board, he "would be delinquent in my duties." "This is my advice as to what I think the town needs. Maybe it will never (be voted on). Maybe it will never go forward," he said yesterday. King said he did not have a schedule for when voters or Town Meeting would weigh in on the override. But if approved as currently proposed, it would cost the average homeowner $152 a year for 25 years, according to King's report. He wrote that a debt exclusion override is "the most direct and expedient way" to raise the money. Jeanne Bullock, chairwoman of the Capital Budget Committee, said yesterday that Framingham homeowners may not be able to afford another tax hike. She also argued that some of the projects, like building a townwide wireless network at a cost of $2 million, "aren't imperative." "What can we afford, and can we pay for these some other way besides debt exclusion?" she said. Bullock also complained that King was "bypassing" her committee by not following the procedure for funding capital projects. The chief financial officer develops a proposed list, which goes to the Capital Budget Committee, she said. Town Meeting then has the final say. King countered that his proposal was not the town's capital budget. He also said it was "unfortunate" Bullock had taken a position on the plan before his presentation to the three boards. Other projects on the list include rehabilitation to the Fuller and Stapleton schools at $6 million; a $4.5 million renovation of the Bowditch Athletic Complex to replace the grandstand and build locker rooms and a maintenance garage; and a new Saxonville fire station at an estimated cost of $4.3 million. The proposal also calls for a new McAuliffe branch library, although library trustees are set to go to Town Meeting next month for authorization to borrow the money for the project. Finance Committee Chairman John Zucchi said many of the proposed override projects are necessary and have been put off for a long time. Now also may be a good time to take advantage of low interest rates, he said. But Zucchi also acknowledged the proposal will be expensive and that Framingham homeowners will not want to spend the money. "I think in my very quick review of it, it seems excessive, but it also seems necessary," he said. |
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