Braintree Debt Exclusion To Cost $63 Million Over 30 Years: Mayor

BRAINTREE, MA — The proposed debt exclusion to pay for a new South Middle School and other school improvements will require taxpayers to pay for a $63 million loan over a 30-year period, Mayor Charles Kokoros said at Tuesday night's Town Council meeting. Kokoros said the debt exclusion would cost the average homeowner an additional $191 in property taxes per year, but that amount would decrease after five years.

For a debt exclusion to be approved, residents would have to approve it in a special election on March 28. The council will vote on Feb. 4 whether to place the debt exclusion on the ballot.

Former Mayor Joseph Sullivan had originally proposed borrowing $85.5 million and using the $31 million the town received from the Massachusetts School Building Authority to repay the loans. Sullivan said the town could pay for the school within its own operating budget. This plan was withdrawn by the Town Council Tuesday.

Kokoros said he spent the last couple of months studying the town's finances and said the town doesn't have the money in its operating budget to make loan payments on a new school.

"The only way I see to do it in a fiscally responsible way is a debt exclusion ..."Kokoros said."This is something i’ve been working on since the Wednesday after I got elected."

The mayor broke down the money by project with the majority of the exclusion, $55.6 million, covering the construction of a new South Middle School. Other projects include:

• $5 million to replace roofs at five elementary schools
• $1.5 million for a feasibility study on redeveloping Braintree High School
• $1 million for school security improvements district-wide.

If a debt exclusion is approved, property taxes will increase, but the increases will decrease gradually over the life of the loan. Here's a breakdown of the average tax increases:

• Years 1-5: $190.99
• Years 6-10: $175.91
• Years 11-20: 170.88
• Years 20-30: $150.78

Kokoros said approving a debt exclusion gives the town some flexibility to take care of other municipal buildings within the town's operating budget.

"It gives a better opportunity to better the school system and better the town as a whole," Kokoros told the council.

District 6 Councilor Lawrence Mackin Jr. said he supports the debt exclusion, but said it's "disappointing to say the least" that voters are being given just two months to make this decision or risk losing state school building money. He said he was disappointed in the lack of transparency.

"So how, in four months, did we go from having $55 million in town revenues to pay for the project over the next 30 years, to needing to take a $55 million debt exclusion over the next 30 years?" Mackin said. "The answer remains to be seen in that the information regarding the funding of this project was never attempted to be explained until now."

The Town Council voted to refer the debt exclusion to its ways and means committee for review. The committee scheduled a meeting for 5:30 p.m. Jan. 29.

District 5 Councilor Meredith Boerick, who chairs the committee, said residents who cannot attend the meeting can send questions about the proposal to the mayor's officer, school superintendent's office and her office at mboericker@braintreema.gov.