Letter: Vote No on Oct. 8 Proposition 2 1/2 Exclusion

To the Editor:

North Adams voters have an important decision to make on Oct. 8. Will we approve a Proposition 2 1/2 exclusion authorizing a 30-year increase above real estate tax limits to fund the city's share of the cost to build a new elementary school? Or will voters decide there are other, more fiscally responsible options available?

While a new school would be nice, it's not that simple. Many North Adams residents live paycheck-to-paycheck. Others are limited to the amount of their monthly Social Security check to try to make ends meet. For homeowners, the additional tax will be a hardship. For renters, landlords will pass along the increase, raising rents when we already lack affordable apartments.

Even for those who could absorb the additional tax, approving the Proposition 2 1/2 exclusion would be a mistake. North Adams has other major expenses looming on the horizon.

North Adams needs a new fire/police station. NAPD now rents space. Our Fire Department remains in a building suffering from far too many ills to fix. They deserve better. The time is rapidly approaching when North Adams will no longer be able to put off building a new public safety facility. Another Proposition 2 1/2 vote.

Deborah Benoit
North Adams, Mass. 

North Adams Voters to Decide Greylock School Project

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
08:45PM / Sunday, October 06, 2024

Mayor Jennifer Macksey at the project forum held at Greylock earlier this summer. She says she feels optimistic about the vote. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Voters will decide the fate of the long-gestating Greylock School project on Tuesday.

 

There is only one question on the ballot, whether to approve a debt exclusion that will allow borrowing for the project outside the limitations of Proposition 2 1/2 for the life of the loan. It is not an override.

 

The City Council approved the spending in July but a ballot vote is required to exclude the debt.

 

A yes vote will move the project forward; a no vote will essentially kill it.

 

Voting will take place from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at St. Elizabeth's Parish Center.

 

The questions about the project have largely revolved around two issues: the cost to the taxpayer and enrollment. 

 

The School Committee voted last year to reduce from three elementary schools to two in light of the student population declining and to reconfigure the grades in the remaining schools as a better educational option. Colegrove Park would become a Grades 3 to 6 school and the new school a prekindergarten through 2 early education center.