Mansfield to Vote on New Public Safety/DPW Complex Tuesday

On Tuesday, Mansfield will decide if they will fund a new public safety/public works complex on East Street. The proposal, which will cost $35 million, has passed town meeting and now needs a ballot vote before construction can start.

There will only be one question on Tuesday’s ballot which will read, “Shall the Town of Mansfield be allowed to exempt from the provisions of proposition two and one-half, so-called, the amounts required to pay for the bonds issued in order to pay costs of designing, constructing, originally equipping and furnishing a new combined Department of Public Works Garage and Public Safety Complex facility, including the payment of all costs incidental and related thereto?” Voters will be asked to choose either yes or no.

The building, which will replace the current police department, fire station, and public works facility, would be paid for by a temporary property tax increase known as a debt exclusion. For a 25-year loan with an estimated interest rate of 3.25 percent, homeowners with a property valued at $200,000 would initially pay an extra $120-a-year in taxes while someone with a $700,000 property would pay an additional $420. According to finance committee chairman Steve Schoonveld, the net impact on taxes is reduced as the projects funded by debt exclusions in the 1990s were in excess of these amounts and have been coming off of the tax roles.

The polls at Mansfield High School will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Click here to learn more about the proposal.

Photo Credit: Town of Mansfield