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Brookline officials outline $3 million shortfall and put operating override on the table before March deadline
Summary
Town and school leaders described a projected FY27 budget gap driven by rising health-care and utility costs, and limited Prop 2½ revenue; the Select Boardmay decide by March 31 whether to place an operating override on the May 5 ballot to close the gap.
Brookline town officials and the superintendent of schools warned on a televised special that the town faces a projected FY27 budget gap of roughly $3 million and that the Select Board could ask voters in May to raise property taxes to close it.
"Utility costs are going up. The cost of health care is increasing dramatically," Chaz Carey, Brooklinetown administrator, said in the studio, summing up the principal cost pressures the town cannot control. Carey said the townfaces a combination of rising fixed costs and reduced purchasing power from state aid that is widening the fiscal gap.
The potential remedy under active consideration is an operating override under MassachusettsProposition 2½, a permanent increase in the property tax levy that the Select Board would need to place on the municipal ballot. Carey…
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