Politics & Government
Hamilton's Annual Override Update
Every year at this time we add up the CUMULATIVE costs of the 10 overrides that were approved between 1998 and 2008. Here's the real cost.
Lest we forget, it’s important to recall one of the major reasons our property tax rate is so high in Hamilton.
In a word: OVERRIDES.
The cumulative cost of past overrides for our community will be $105,624,687 this year.
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That’s right…Over $105 MILLION!
From 1998 to 2008 Hamilton experienced these 10 overrides.
Find out what's happening in Hamilton-Wenhamfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
· 1998: $202,000
· 1999: $660,000
· 2001: $452,000
· 2002: $790,000
· 2003: $2,200,000
· 2004: $582,000
· 2005: $478,000
· 2006: $203,000
· 2007: $340,000
· 2008: $1,800,000
Now on the face of it, that appears to simply add up to $7,707,000.
But that is only the total in THE FIRST YEAR of each of the overrides.
And here’s the thing…overrides are not one-time events.
Overrides are forever. They become part of the tax levy and you pay for them again every year, over and over... forever. And they increase through the use (some might say misuse) of Proposition 2.5. So every year the cost of the original override increases by 2.5% over the previous year.
The result? OVER $105 MILLION OF YOUR TAX DOLLARS COLLECTED AND SPENT BECAUSE OF 10 SEPARATE OVERRIDES. And add another $10+ million next year while you’re at it.
Never forget the real cost of fiscal irresponsibility.
