Last year’s Natick annual town election posed a seemingly impossible choice for its residents: Raise their real estate taxes by an average of $450 per year through a $7 million budget override, or sacrifice the integrity of their town services and children’s schools.
In a 60:40 vote, Natick residents chose the budget override.
“The way it was presented, there seemed to be little choice in that if we didn’t do it, we were only going to end up falling behind and needing to do it later,” said Rick Devereux, a retired resident who voted for the override.
For over a decade, Natick has been stuck in a budget deficit and relying on free cash, an unpredictable income source, for certain operational costs, Town Administrator Jamie Errickson said.
“The override allowed us to reduce our reliance on free cash to cover the budget deficit,” he said. “But it didn’t necessarily address the entire structural deficit issue.”
Free cash refers to the remaining funds after a fiscal year of unused budgets from town departments, such as the police or public works. When a town relies on free cash for operating expenses instead of one-time capital projects, it’s in a budget deficit, Errickson said.
“It’s not uncommon at all for communities to use some level of free cash to help balance the budget,” he said. “It’s just to the extent that we’re reliant on free cash, because free cash is not a guaranteed revenue source.”
With the override in place, Natick’s reliance on free cash dropped from $7 million to only $3.5 million, Errickson said. Still, the override was not enough to pull Natick out of its deficit.
Mostly, the override funding prevented job losses in municipal services and schools, according to the town of Natick. If the override failed, 41 Natick Public Schools personnel and seven town personnel would have been laid off.
Natick is one of multiple municipalities in Massachusetts to have recently passed a Proposition 2.5 override. All share similar purposes: Maintain school and town services, and support those who provide them. In late March, Arlington residents approved a $14.8 million override. Brookline residents will vote in May on a $23.5 million override.
Donna M. McKenzie, a Natick resident who lives in the 1950s home that her parents owned, voted yes for the override despite potential financial sacrifices.
“I live on a limited income, and when I was taking care of my dad, we just lived off of his social security income,” McKenzie said. “It was really difficult, but he also supported education, so he voted for the override for the high school.”
She said residents depend on each other, and maintaining Natick schools benefits everyone.
“Massive cuts in the schools would serve no one,” McKenzie said. “Schools are a big part of the reason why people come to Natick, and a big part of why property in Natick is valuable.”
This year, McKenzie said she can feel the impact of the override in her personal life.
“There are things I can’t do,” McKenzie said. “I shop the periphery in grocery stores, and there are food items I can’t afford. I haven’t gotten my car fixed for quite a while. It’s not easy.”
Mckenzie voted yes because her priority to preserve local education trumped lower property taxes.
“I want to stay in my house. I worry about whether that’s going to be possible for me over the long run, because of the taxes. But I do, as I’ve said, believe the role of the schools is critical.”
Nancy Agris Savage, a freelance journalist and writer, said when she was raising her children in Natick, she campaigned for budget overrides to improve the local schools. Years later, she hasn’t changed her tune.
“I have voted for basically every override that specifically had to do with the school system, because it just makes sense,” Agris Savage said. “Somebody else helped improve our schools when my kids were younger. We all pitched in, and so it’s my job to do the same now.”
Tony Lista, a past member of the Natick Financial Committee, said he voted no because the town should have consolidated its services before proposing a large override.
“Nobody wants to see people displaced, but the taxpayers should be able to get a clear idea [of] how our services are provided and make adjustments as necessary,” Lista said.
He said he thinks the town has room to tighten its services and he “challenges” Natick to assess how often it needs heavy, expensive equipment, like sewer vacuum trucks.
“Those are the things I think that we should be looking at,” Lista said. “They’re boring items, things that people don’t care about, but could save big money in the town.”
As a resident who owns more than one property in Natick, Lista faces “an additional impact.”
“I’m always willing and able to participate in the services that make sense to the town,” Lista said. “So, you have to make adjustments in other areas of your life.”
The town administration wants to avoid another budget override, but Select Board Chair Bruce Evans said, “never say never.”
“I think [the override] has bought the town some more time. We had no flexibility in our budgets,” said Evans. “But you know, if we look for this fiscal year and beyond, we’re not going to be without our set of challenges.”
This story is part of a partnership between the Natick Report and the Boston University Department of Journalism.