REGIONAL – Voters were in a spending mood this spring as they approved property tax overrides in several towns at Town Meetings and at the polls. They also approved overrides for the Triton Regional School District’s budget and a debt exclusion to build a proposed $8.3 million youth recreation center on Newburyport’s Low Street.
Several towns also elected new leaders.
Georgetown voters approved the largest Proposition 21/2 override at $6 million, which will raise taxes on a $628,000 home in town by $975 per year. It passed by a vote of 1,487 to 1,249.
In Rowley, the voters approved a $1,075-million override by a vote of 636 to 495. The Town Meeting had approved a budget that required the override be approved. For a $450,000 home, the tax increase will be about $270 a year, while a $1 million home will be about $630, in addition to other tax increases, according to the town.
A state-allowed override permits a community to assess taxes above the automatic annual 2.5 percent increase, according to mass.gov.
In Rowley’s SelectBoard election, incumbent Christine Kneeland and newcomer Maura Mastrogiovanni won seats with 757 and 781 votes, respectively. Select candidate Matt Grenier received 385 votes.
Rowley Planning Board candidate Ethan Young won a seat with 728 votes, while Mike Sabatini received 276 votes. Election workers were still processing the write-ins. The official results will have to be certified later.
Salisbury had a quiet election and a low turnout with just 257 voters. All candidates this year ran unopposed.
Incumbent Selectman Michael Colburn received 198 votes, and newly elected Selectman Wendy Kimball, who filled Ronalee Ray Parrott’s seat, received 217 votes. Parrot is the new town moderator with 228 votes.
School Committee incumbent Erin Berger received 228 votes.
In Georgetown, Michael Donahue won a seat on the SelectBoard, defeating first-time candidate Eric Viele with 1665 to 1487.
The Triton school budget will be $43,610,103, up more than $2 million from the previous year.
With the debt exclusion approved by the Newburyport voters, 2,539 votes to 1,627, the city can begin converting the former National Guard building across Low Street from the Molin and Nock schools into a youth center that will house a gymnasium, early education space, meeting and quiet study space, a flexible art/maker space and a multipurpose space.
A half-basketball court will also be built outside with a new patio and enclosed play space.
For Newburyport residents, property taxes for the average homeowner will go up $55, according to city projections. ♦
