In State of Town, officials say general override needed

BY WILLIAM J. DOWD

During his State of Town Address

Feb. 1, Marblehead Town Administrator

Thatcher Kezer did not attach a dollar amount for a proposal of a general override of Proposition 2 1/2, which is expected to come before Town Meeting in May.

“The big question is an override, and it is purposefully put as a question,” Kezer told a standing-room-only crowd in the Select Board’s Meeting Room in Abbot Hall.

Kezer said he would be overseeing the development of a budget that would be balanced, in the absence of town support for an override.

“I cannot assume the will of the voters,” he said. “I have to have a real budget that we build with the revenues we have.”

Kezer outlined three possible scenarios: No override is passed, limiting revenue to that which can be raised under Proposition 2 1/2.

» A general override is passed to plug only the budget’s structural deficit, an amount to be determined.

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A general override is passed to both repair the structural deficit and fund additional priority services.

The basic reason that Marblehead needs a general override is that the rise in the cost of providing town services is outpacing revenues. To this point, the town has managed to avoid requesting an override by identifying other sources of funding, most notably what is known as