Town Officials Rule Out Override for Budget

Seekonk town officials have no intention of asking residents to support an override of tax limiting Proposition 2 and a ½. “Just my personal opinion, this town will never ever support a 2 and a 1/2 override for the operating budget,” Select Board Chair Gary Sagar said at the July 29 joint meeting with the Finance Committee and the School Committee.

Sagar dismissed what he referred to as the “doom and gloom” of the last budget cycle. “Nobody lost their job and everybody got a pay raise.”

Town Administrator Shawn Cadime said he would never support an override. “I think we obviously need to stay within the tax levy,” Cadime noted. “When we start to look at inflation and where the cost of living is going and the cost of everything across the board, we just need to be a little more cognizant of how we’re providing the services that we’re providing and to add more to that is a difficult ask.”

“The only way I think it could ever have a possibility of passing would be for a very limited and specific purpose and a one shot deal,” said Finance committee member Michael Brady.

Sagar said the amount of money proposed for a repaving of the Martin Elementary School was “ridiculous.”

At last May’s Town Meeting, the school department asked for $975,000 to replace the asphalt, curbing, and drainage of the parking lot at Martin School. The article was defeated, even after a motion was made to request $447,000 so the project could be done in phases. 

“The smartest thing you could do is hire an engineer and have them do an evaluation,” Sagar noted. “That’s where you are going to get your best pricing to repair it.”

Brady encouraged town departments to do a better job explaining why they need money for projects. “We’ve got to be able to answer these questions meaningfully,” Brady said. “Why do you need almost a million dollars to (repair) a parking lot?”

Sagar noted a debt exclusion question will be on the November election ballot for a new South End Fire Station. The project failed to pass at two town meetings, but Sagar said the support is there. “With all the traffic and commercial growth going on (in the south end), it’s desperately needed.”