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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 funding. “We, of course, will continue our multi-year effort to fix the Chapter 70 law,” he said, and added the override request is an “unprecedented step” prompted by an unprecedented set of circumstances.
The mayor front-loaded measures intended to ease the burden on homeowners: the City Council increased the residential tax exemption to the maximum level allowed by law, which Christenson said reduces taxes by an average of $294 for single-family homeowners and $392 for condo owners. He stressed the exemption “does not affect the city's bottom line” but shifts costs toward investor-owned properties.
Christenson also touted the first full year of Malden Community Electricity, a municipal aggregation program he said saved participating residents and businesses a combined $1.5 million in 2026, about $103 per household on average, and locked rates through December 2027. He framed such programs as part of a suite of affordability policies—including targeted housing development and grant leverage—that together aim to protect residents from rising costs.
Why it matters: the mayor linked the budget gap to long-standing state funding rules and proposed a locally decided remedy (the voluntary override). He asked residents to weigh information and impacts before voting, while signaling the city will continue seeking state-level fixes to Chapter 70.
Next steps: the mayor and council will continue public outreach on the override and related budget options; no formal vote on the override appears in the address itself.
