By JOSEPH FITZGERALD

MILLVILLE — Annual Town Meeting voters May 12 will decide whether or not the town should consider pushing property tax hikes above the state’s 2.5 percent increase cap to fund a projected budget deficit for the 2009 fiscal year.

Highlighting the 25-article town meeting warrant is Article 4, which asks voters if a Proposition 2½ override question should be placed on the ballot at a special town election later this year.
The annual town meeting kicks off at 7 p.m. in the Millville Elementary School auditorium. A special town meeting will precede that meeting at 6:30 p.m. There are only two articles on the special town meeting warrant.
Proposition 2½, approved by Massachusetts voters in 1980, limits the amount of revenue a city or town may raise from local property taxes each year to fund municipal operations. Communities must seek voter approval to raise additional funds beyond Proposition 2½ limits.
Like many communities, Millville is struggling financially and has found itself at a critical crossroads: balance the town operating budget by cutting town department budgets — which in turn could impact the level of town services town residents have come to expect — or override the tax cap (and raise taxes) to cover the shortfall.
Over the past half dozen years or so the town has relied on non-recurring revenue such as free cash and
stabilization funds — money that does not come back every year — to cover operating budget shortfalls. This year, that safety net does not exist.
The choice this year, say town officials, is to balance the budget, but reduce town department budgets by 10 percent across the board  - a move that could impact town services and the way town departments operate - or override the tax cap.
The budget shortfall is being blamed on a variety of reasons, including reductions in state aid; school funding obligations; a decline in excise revenue; and a $100,000 overage in the snow and ice budget. Taking the projected revenues for next year into consideration, the town will find itself with insufficient funds to fund last year’s budget.
The town expects to collect less revenue, about $100,000, from excise taxes, which the town has to compensate for. The economy and a slow-down in new car sales played a role in the decline of the collections, town officials say.
The town has also taken a hit over the past year because higher numbers of students have opted to attend area vocational schools (Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School and Norfolk County Agricultural High School), the cost of which must be borne by the public school districts the student lives in. Tuition at the Norfolk County Agricultural High School, for example, is roughly $19,000 per student per year.
The plan now, according to town officials, is to go the town meeting on May 12 with a balanced town operating budget that reflects anticipated revenue that is lower than next year and which reflects town department budget reductions of 10 percent for every department from the Police Department to the Highway Department. Under that scenario, town operations and services to residents could be seriously undermined.
If voters say yes that night and vote to place an override question on the ballot for a special town election, town officials would go back and work on a new budget, but still carry an adjusted budget in case the override question is defeated at the polls.
As of now, no one is saying what the override figure will be. There has been some talk in town that the figure could be at least $200,000, but town officials say more work needs to be done before a figure is set in stone.
The financial crisis is not unique to Millville. There are at least 52 communities in Massachusetts weighing overrides votes. Last year, 109 communities out of 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts sought an override. Of those, 38 were approved by voters.
The last time voters in Millville were asked to approve an override was back in 1988. The measure passed by a slim margin.
If the town does opt for an override to cover the budget shortfall, there’s some good news for the town’s seniors. The Massachusetts House of Representatives recently approved legislation that would exempt property taxpayers who are 65 and older from paying increases in property taxes that are attributable to operating overrides or debt-capital exclusions of levy limits under Proposition  2½.
The bill would allow seniors 65 or older to apply for an abatement on their property taxes if they make $60,000 a year or less, provided the community approves it. The seniors would also have to ensure their real estate taxes exceed 10 percent of their incomes.

The other articles on the annual town meeting warrant asks voters to:

*Raise and appropriate and or transfer from available funds money to fund salary increases and other cost items associated with implementing the collective bargaining agreement between the town and Teamsters Local 170 Dispatch Union, effective July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2011.

*Rise and appropriate and or transfer from any available funds money to fund salary increases and other cost items associated with implementing the collective bargaining agreement between the town nd Teamsters Local 170 Police Union, effective July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2011.
 
*Raise and appropriate and or transfer from available funds a sum of money for the Highway Department to be used for engineering, construction, reconstruction and or repair to town roads and bridges with said funds to be reimbursed by state Chapter 90 funds.

*Raise and appropriate and or transfer from any available funds a sum of money to fund the proposed Capital Budget for Fiscal Year 2009.
 
*Raise and appropriate and or transfer from any available funds a sum of money to pay the total cost of tuition and exams for six students and to license and equip the ambulance for the intermediate level.

* To see  if the town will vote to appropriate $200,000 to financing repair, replacement and or upgrade of residential septic systems, pursuant to agreements between the Board of Health and residential property owners.

A citizens petition article will ask voters to reinstate the powers and duties of Executive Secretary as originally voted in 1990,

The two articles on the special town meeting warrant asks voters to raise and appropriate or transfer from available funds sums of money for the payment of prior fiscal year unpaid bills, and to vote to transfer from available funds a sum of money to Highway Department for the snow and ice removal account.