April 10, 2023 By Carol Britton Meyer
The Hingham Anchor asked Town Moderator Michael Puzo to explain how the $7.9 million override will be presented at the April 24 Town Meeting, how the town budget including the schools will be presented both with and without the operational override, the “hold” process when each line item is read, and related details.
Also described below is the procedure for any proposed amendments/modifications to what is being recommended by the Advisory Committee with respect to both parts of Article 6, the balanced budget component and the Operational Override component. (See the AdCom report in the Town Meeting warrant for full details.)
Town Meeting will take place Monday, April 24, at Hingham High School starting at 7 p.m.
Here is what Puzo shared:
“In sum, we will be dividing Article 6 into two parts (1) the balanced budget without the Operational Override, and (2) the Operational Override component, as if they were two separate articles.
This will allow the meeting to take final action on the budget without the Operational Override, the +/-$144 million, while also taking separate action on the Operational Override component, the +/-$7.9 million, mindful that positive action on the Operational Override will require approval of both a simple majority of the votes cast at Town Meeting and a majority vote in favor of the ballot question at the town election on April 29.”
Puzo also explained the process in fuller detail, noting that the Advisory Committee report in the Town Meeting warrant — which has been mailed to every Hingham household and is also posted on the town website — contains full details regarding the tax impact of what is being recommended and the reductions that would need to be made in the event that funds are not approved over and above the balanced budget component of Article 6.
“The primary budget question each year at Town Meeting is set forth in the Town Meeting Warrant booklet at Article 6. The bulk of this year’s Article 6 will look familiar, beginning with funds recommended for the costs of General Government and running through the costs of Property and Liability Insurance,” Puzo said. “These recommendations run this year from accounts numbered 122 (Select Board) through 915 (Property and Liability Insurance) and amount to a shade under $144 million.”
This sum does not include the roughly $7.9 million that is recommended to be added to particular budgets, all of which is called out in the text of the Warrant at Account 999. “That $7.9 million is, of course, what is being referred to as the Operational Override,” he said.
In order to make the proceedings clear, and thereby enable the meeting to proceed smoothly and take effective action, Article 6 will be divided into two parts.
The first part will be all items set forth in Article 6 without the Operational Override — without the $7,890,467 that is described in detail in Numbered Account 999 at the end of Article 6. These items total $143,926,374.
“We will go through the first part of Article 6 in the customary fashion, again, without the Operational Override. I will read each item, line by line, allowing any item to be held,” Puzo explained. “Then, the meeting will vote on all items that have not been held, after which we will return to items that have been held, allowing debate and discussion on such items. In due course, we will vote on the first part of Article 6, again without the Operational Override amount that is detailed in Account 999, without the +/-$7.9 million. We will take final action on the first part of Article 6 (the non-Operational Override portion), including any Motion for Reconsideration, before proceeding to the second part of Article 6, which is the Operational Override.”
Next, “We will proceed to the second part of Article 6, which is the Operational Override, as is detailed at Account 999 in the Warrant,” Puzo said. The voters will see that the appropriation of the $7,890,467 is (1) shown quite specifically as to the proposed use of each dollar, and (2) that the Override amount includes both the +/-$6.0 million to fund level services and the +/-$1.9 million for other recommended uses. This breakdown is described in detail in the Advisory Committee’s report, which bears careful reading before Town Meeting.”
As with the earlier part of Article 6, which the meeting will have already voted upon, Puzo will read each line of the Operational Override recommendation, line by line, allowing for holds. “We will follow our usual Article 6 procedure, including any Motion for Reconsideration, as to the Operational Override component of Article 6.”
When the Operational Override part of Article 6 has been completed — including any Motion for Reconsideration as to the Operational Override — all of Article 6 will have been completed.
“All of this is carefully delineated in the report of the Advisory Committee as set forth in the warrant. This is also the subject of a great deal of information readily accessed on the Town of Hingham website and will, of course, be discussed at Town Meeting,” Puzo said. “To that point, while we will vote separately on (1) the balanced budget portion of Article 6 (up to the Operational Override portion), and (2) the Operational Override portion, I will allow discussion on both parts of Article 6, whether we are discussing the balanced budget component or the Operational Override itself.”
Proposed amendments/modifications
With regard to any proposed amendments/modifications on the floor of Town Meeting, Puzo explained:
“In the case of the Operational Override (“Override”), the main motion before the meeting will be that of the Advisory Committee and will be received as such. In common parlance, ‘it goes first,'” he said.
Puzo will read each line item, allowing for the traditional practice of “holding” an item. If a voter ultimately wishes to modify the recommended motion of the Advisory Committee, the voter can move to amend the main motion.
That will require a second and, assuming that a second is made, then the proposed amended motion will be voted upon. If the amended motion were to receive a majority vote in favor of its adoption, it would become the main motion and be voted upon by the meeting.
“Bottom line, any proposed amendments/modifications of what is being recommended by AdCom with respect to both parts of Article 6, the balanced budget component and the Operational Override component, will follow our usual and longstanding procedures. There’s no difference in the case of the recommended motion under this year’s Article 6,” Puzo said.
The town moderator also explained what would happen if the meeting does not wrap up in one night.
“If the warrant is not completed Monday night, we will take it up on Tuesday night, April 25, starting at 7 p.m., and hopefully we’ll complete the work,” he said.
If that’s not the case, a third session would be held on Monday, May 1, at 7 p.m.
For more information about the override go to https://www.hingham-ma.gov/1025/Town-of-Hingham-FY24-Override.
The Advisory Committee report in the warrant also explains the property tax impacts over five years should the proposed override pass at both Town Meeting and at the town election through a ballot question.
It is important to note, if any changes are made to the recommended override budget, the MOU between the Select Board, School Committee, and Advisory Committee will become void.
The recommended override received unanimous support from the Select Board, School Committee, and Advisory Committee. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed by these three boards, as well as the Superintendent and Town Administrator, holding all town departments to a budget growth rate of 3.5% or less for FY25 thru FY28. The MOU will become void should changes to the recommended override be made at Town Meeting or if it does not pass at both Town Meeting and the Town Election.