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Malden mayor urges voters to consider voluntary tax override as budget strains threaten services
Summary
Mayor Gary Christenson told attendees that Malden faces "unprecedented" budget pressures tied to a flawed state school funding formula, outlined affordability measures (residential exemption, Community Electricity savings), and asked residents to weigh a voluntary property tax override while the city continues multi-year efforts to fix Chapter 70 funding.
Mayor Gary Christenson opened Malden's 2026 State of the City at the Senior and Teen Center by warning that the city’s budget is under “unprecedented pressure” and urging residents to learn the facts before voting on a proposed voluntary property tax override.
Christenson said the state's Chapter 70 education funding formula leaves Malden at a disadvantage and that, despite disciplined fiscal management and structural changes to health insurance, the city still confronts a fundamental inequity in school…
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