Swampscott Select Board Seeks 'Free Cash' Tax Levy Middle Ground

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — The Swampscott Select Board voted unanimously to amend its recommended use of "free cash" to help offset property tax increases in the town for Fiscal Year 2022 as it looks long term toward saving more of those surpluses for capital projects.

The Select Board voted to increase its recommendation to the Special Town Meeting on Dec. 13 for use of $1.25 million in the so-called free cash — up from $1 million in a previous recommendation. Last year, the town used $1.55 million in free cash toward tax levy relief.

According to the Select Board, the $1.25 million in supplements would mean an increase of $94 per year for the median home and $129 for an average single-family home.

At $1 million, that increase would have been $136 for a median home and $179 for an average single-family home. At $1.55 million the increase would be $53 for a median home and $80 for the average single-family home.

"We should be creating budgets based on the assumption that the full tax levy will hit the taxpayer and what's the consequence of that," Select Board member Peter Spellios said of the need to lower reliance on the free cash. "Are we OK with (that spending) without any offset?"

Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald noted that the "free cash" is, in fact, surplus taxpayer money from various sources, but said expecting that surplus to be there every year for an eventual tax break is a flawed strategy.

"If you spend more money than you raise every year then you're going to run a deficit and you're going to have to rely on financial reserves," Fitzgerald said. "That's not ideal."

He said the more prudent path is to build up those reserves and then spend them on capital projects that are expected to be needed over the next few years.

The tax levy supplement will go to a vote of town meeting members on Dec. 13 as part of 12 articles at the special town meeting, including those to officially rename the Board of Selectmen to the Select Board in general bylaws, zoning bylaws and town charter.

Select Board Chair Polly Titcomb, who became the chair this fall when Spellios stepped down from leading the board, will introduce the meeting article for the gender-neutral term that most towns in the state now use.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)

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