There will be a Special Town Election on September 10, 2024 to ask voters to consider an Operational Override ballot question. The ballot will ask voters for a Yes or No vote. The language of the ballot question is as follows:

Shall the Town of Holliston be allowed to assess an additional $1,170,366 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of providing for the general administrative cost of operating the Holliston Public Schools ($1,126,021) and for non-union salary adjustments to numerous departments ($44,345), for fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024?

Why does this tax increase require an override or special election?

An Override refers to a vote by the registered voters in town to override the tax increase limit set by Proposition 2 ½.  Proposition 2 ½ is a state law enacted in 1980 to limit the total tax amount a town is allowed to collect.  This amount is not to increase by more than 2.5% per year without a town vote.  Individual tax bills are impacted by changes to the relative value of residential and commercial property and localized changes in real estate values. Proposition 2 ½ limits the amount of annual tax revenue collected by a municipality, without a town vote or Override.

More information on Proposition 2.5 can be found here: 

Why is an operational override being sought? 

The Fiscal Year 2025 budget, which began July 1, 2024, has been challenging for several reasons: inflationary increases in operating costs, the important need to pay our paraprofessionals more to remain competitive with surrounding districts, weak Town new growth, a one-time reversal of prior year new growth, and special education tuition and transportation costs, among other budget drivers. Funding that local communities receive from the state has not kept pace with rising educational and transportation costs.  State aid for the Holliston Public Schools (Chapter 70) has grown by only 2.3% over the past 10 years; below even the amount property taxes are allowed to increase by.  Meanwhile, the HPS budget has increased by 3.2%.  

Property tax is one of the largest revenue streams available to the town, and increases in property taxes are limited by Proposition 2 ½. 

The Holliston Teacher’s Contract ends on August 31, 2024, and we are committed to providing fair and competitive compensation to attract and retain outstanding teachers, who, in turn, support our students in achieving high outcomes. This override covers teacher salaries as agreed upon in the 2024-2027 contract. It also covers the future cost of additional buses that will be required to reduce the bus runs from 3 to 2 that is required by the increased student day for added instructional time. This will also require an adjustment to start times with all schools starting later than Miller and earlier than Placentino do now.

How much will the override cost?

The Holliston School Committee is currently seeking an operational override that will cost $1,126,021 and result in an average increase in tax bills of less than ~$195 per year or ~$0.53 per day. After including the Select Board’s requested pay increases for Town non-union personnel of $44,345, the total average increase requested by the override is ~$201 per year. The “average” increase is calculated on the average home assessment of $649,000. To calculate your own tax impact, you can multiply your property’s assessed value by 0.00031 ($0.31 cents per $1,000). The HPS request is almost entirely to fund the teacher contract as well as for additional buses that will be needed to fix the school start times and for the increased instructional time that is part of the contract. While not definitionally a level service budget, the majority of the override will be for level service.

What options are there for tax relief for people that this will hit the hardest - low income or fixed-income residents?

There are several programs available through the Board of Assessors that provide relief to those on limited means. Most recently, a new Means-Tested Senior Exemption (passed by Town Meeting May 2022 and signed into law by the Governor in May 2024) will be available beginning in FY25. For more information, visit the town website or contact Kevin Rudden at town hall. [email protected]

What happens if the override doesn’t pass?

The 2024-2027 Teachers Contract is contingent on the override. If the override does not pass, the 2024-2027 ratified MOA does not go into effect and the HSC and HFT will resume negotiations. In this scenario, it is highly unlikely that the final agreement will be as beneficial to either the students or the teachers but given how tight the Town and School’s budgets are this year, could very likely result in significant cost reductions once a final contract is agreed to.  We also believe that if the override does not pass, regardless of how the additional negotiations play out, it will have a negative impact on morale which will, overtime, have a negative impact on student achievement and District performance.

Highlights of the 2024-2027 Teacher Agreement:

• Elimination of the current entry level step (step 2), starting in year one of the contract, to allow us to be highly competitive with other Metrowest school districts in attracting new talent.

• Starting with the 2025-26 school year (year two of the contract), instructional time will increase by 15 minutes at Miller, Adams and the High School and by 10 minutes at Placentino. This will increase annual time on learning by 45 hours and 30 hours, respectively, or an additional 7.5 days and 5 days worth of learning in a school year. Over the course of a student’s K-12 education this will equate to an additional 540 hours of time on learning or an additional half a year of instructional time! We believe that this will have a significant positive long-term impact on student outcomes. Exact details of what this means to start times and other operational issues will be announced before January 1, 2025, to give families ample planning time.

• Teacher cost of living adjustment (COLA) increases will be 4% in year one, 3% in year two, and 3% in year three. Additionally, in year two of the contract (coinciding with the increased time on learning), a new top pay step will be created for our most experienced educators that is $1,500 above the current top pay step.

• The agreement also provides for 1) additional scheduling flexibility while maintaining overall teacher preparation time, 2) increased student monitoring at the middle and high school, and 3) a Memorandum of Agreement ensuring collaboration between the administrators and teachers on potential future schedule changes at the middle and high school.

For additional information and details, visit the following websites:

Submitted by the 

Holliston School Committee