Top 10 Reasons why an Underride is not good for Amesbury

10. Amesbury does not have $1 million in ‘excess levy’ for 2008, so this will mean budget cuts next year and every year beyond.

9. An under-ride will not reduce anyone’s property tax bill.

8. This punishes Amesbury’s good financial management by removing its financial flexibility.

7. Amesbury will carry this cut into the future, compounded every year.

6. An under-ride would wipe out our ability to cover unpredictable but unavoidable costs. (Between 2007 and 2008 budgets, the mandated special needs costs for schools increased by over $1.1 million or by 66%!)

5. Amesbury’s bond rating would likely go down if we passed an under-ride. An under-ride would cost Amesbury money in higher interest.

4. The under-ride proposal is not a citizen initiative but is the product of 3 Councilors: Tom Iacobucci (d5), the author, and Donna McClure (at-large) and Michelle Thone (d1).

3. The responsibility for managing and cutting the budget rests with the Council. (In June, the Council only cut 1/10^th of 1% from the current budget. Why are they proposing a 2% reduction for next year, without even knowing the consequences?)

2. The Council does not need an under-ride to control costs. That’s what deliberating and voting on the budget every year is for!

1. “The only other way to immediately and dramatically cut your taxes would be an under ride and I would not support an effort in that direction. I fear it would cripple our schools and hurt our community.” – Councilor Donna McClure, July 2006

What is an underride?

According to the Massachusetts Municipal Association website Proposition 2 1/2 allows a community to reduce its levy limit by passing an underride, according to the Division of Local Services. When an underride is passed, the levy limit for the year is calculated by subtracting the amount of the underride. The underride results in a permanent decrease in the levy limit of a community because it reduces the base upon which levy limits are calculated for future years. Simply put, an underride is the exact opposite of a Proposition 2 1/2 override.

A majority vote of a community’s board of selectmen or town or city council (with the mayor’s approval if required by law) allows an underride question to be placed on the ballot. An underride question may also be placed on the ballot by a local citizen initiative procedure, if one is provided by law. An underride question must state a dollar amount and requires a majority vote by the electorate.

Since 1994, a total of nine underride questions have been placed on ballots in eight communities, according to the DLS. Eight of these questions have been approved by voters, the largest being a $2 million reduction in Plymouth for fiscal 1996. The other underrides that passed were in Ayer, Holland, Orleans, Shelburne, Upton and Williamsburg (twice), all for amounts below $325,000. A proposed reduction of $388,353 was rejected by voters in Norton in 1994.

For more information see the DLS publication “Levy Limits: A Primer on Proposition 2 1/2,” which can be found on the DLS Web site (www.dls.state.ma.us/publics.htm).

History of the Underride

The under-ride was first seen in Amesbury in 2001 when Councilor Tom Iacobucci submitted legislation to schedule a rare Proposition 2 _ “UNDERride” vote, to reduce Town’s tax levy by $1.5 million (legislation passed; underride lost at ballot box by only 13 votes).

The initiative was reintroduced in 2007. On July 3, At-Large Municipal Councilor Donna McClure filed a bill to put a $1.5 million underride before Amesbury voters at the November 6 election. The bill was co-sponsored by District 1 councilor, Michelle Thone.

At the September 11th meeting the Council agreed to reduce the underride amount to $1 million, based on a recommendation from the finance committee. Ultimately this vote was delayed as a result of an objection by Council Ann Connolly-King and moved to the September 24 meeting, where the Council finally agreed to send it to the ballot.

According to figures provided by the state Department of Revenue, only 14 communities have voted on a Proposition 21/2 underride - a reduction in property taxes - through 2005. In contrast, almost every one of the 351 cities and towns has sought to raise taxes through overrides and debt exclusions.

Underrides have been voted on about 20 times over the past two decades; in contrast, almost 2,800 tax increases in the form of overrides and debt exclsions have been sought. Among the communities that have voted on an underride were Ayer, Dennis, Gill, Groveland, Holland, Lancester,Norton, Norton, Orleans, Plymouth, Sandwich, Shelburne and Upton.