SALEM, MA — The future of the proposed $447 million new Salem High School building hangs in the balance on Tuesday as Witch City voters go to the polls, being asked to approve a 30-year property tax override to fund about $232 million of the project.
A "yes" vote would authorize the borrowing for approximately 60 percent of the project with state matching funds through the Massachusetts School Building Authority estimated to pay for about $208 million of it, and grants to account for about $7 million.
Salem Mayor and School Committee Chair Dominick Pangallo, a chief proponent for the new building, told Patch in a statement on Monday that the school is in a dire state, and the new building is more financially feasible and more beneficial in the long-term than a potential renovation to address myriad code issues.
"Salem's current high school building, built over five decades ago now, has heating and cooling systems that no longer work, asbestos in the walls, mercury in the floors, and leaks in the ceiling," he told Patch on Monday. "It's not accessible and half of it has no sprinkler system. It also lacks intentionally-built career and technical education spaces, our fastest-growing educational program, and offers deficient arts and athletics spaces.
"The classrooms are physically smaller than what the state requires today and lack access to natural light."
Pangallo said the city has worked for nearly two decades to get state funding for renovations, "but was constantly turned down."
"Now, we finally have the opportunity to secure a $208 million state grant to build a new, better, healthier, and safer school for our students and for the teachers who work in that building," he said. "A 'no' vote would mean turning back the grant, which is conditioned on securing local funding. We would need to, instead, undertake a more costly, multi-decade renovation project of the existing building, which would leave many of the same problems and deficiencies in place for generations of students to come."
Those opposed to the override worry that the cost of the tax increases — estimated at $682 to $710 per year for the median single-family homeowner — are being underestimated, with the overwhelming likelihood of escalating property values, and that the cost estimates are based on state matching fund estimates that are not guaranteed.
"Voters should have the complete picture," override proposal critic Liz Griffin told Patch, "a bond order for $447,385,518 approved by the City Council, a reimbursement grant that is capped but not guaranteed, an unfinalized construction price, a 30-year average tax impact that will likely grow over time, and a commitment lasting three decades.
"These are facts that belong in every description of what is on the ballot Tuesday."
Griffin said she believes that the notion of a 30-year debt exclusion as being "temporary" deflects from the reality that those graduating from high school this year, and buying property in the city, will be paying for the project until they are 48 years old.
She also said that voters will have no recourse or reconsideration once the guaranteed maximum price for the project is determined in late 2027.
But Pangallo has said costs to fix or replace the high school will only go up over time and that proposals that the city go back to the state for renovation funding offer no guarantee of success — only serving to delay the project with an estimated 30-month build time for a new building, while a renovation will take 42 months or more, and require the use of four years of temporary classrooms.
Under the new building proposal, it will be constructed on the fields of the current high school campus before the old school is demolished to make way for new athletic fields.
"Our students deserve a school building as excellent as they are, and our community deserves a flagship school we can be proud of and that reflects who we are as a city," Pangallo said. "The only way to secure that future is with a ‘yes’ vote on Tuesday."
Polling locations (listed below) are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday:
Ward 1 Precinct 1 Bentley Academy Gymnasium, 25 Memorial Drive
Ward 1 Precinct 2 135 Lafayette Street, Community Room
Ward 2 Precinct 1 & 2 Community Life Center, 401 Bridge Street
Ward 3 Precinct 1 & 2 Salem High School, Auditorium, 77 Willson Street
Ward 4 Precinct 1 & 2 Witchcraft Heights School Gymnasium, 1 Frederick Street
Ward 5 Precinct 1 & 2 Saltonstall School Auditorium, 211 Lafayette Street
Ward 6 Precinct 1 & 2 Bates School Theater Room, 53 Liberty Hill Avenue
Ward 7 Precinct 1 & 2 Salem Enterprise Center, 121 Loring Avenue
Voters are advised to bring identification as, in some cases, they will be required to show it. Voters do not need a photo ID, but identification must contain a name, and Salem address as registered, including utility bills, paycheck stubs or driver's licenses.
Voters who requested a mail-in ballot must return it by the close of polls on Tuesday.
Mail-in ballots can be returned to the Elections Office in Room #5 of City Hall or to one of the city's drop boxes.
Drop boxes will be open until 8 p.m. and are located at the Fire Station Headquarters at 48 Lafayette Street, Fire Station #5 at 64 Loring Avenue, and Fire Station #4 at 415 Essex Street. The drop box at Fire Station #2 on North Street has been relocated to the Community Life Center at 401 Bridge Street.
Voters may also use the drop box located outside the front entrance of City Hall, 93 Washington Street.
Mail-in ballots will not be counted if they are brought to polling locations on Election Day or put in a drop box after 8 p.m.
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