Speaking personally, I don't think the override will pass unless there's a strong marketing campaign. There will have to be a multitude of information because people are going to have a multitude of questions.”

Select board chairman Richard Brewer

Now that Town Meeting is in the books, the real work of selling an estimated $3 million override to the public begins, with a special election on the matter looming within the next several months.

Select board chairman Richard Brewer said Monday evening that while Town Meeting voters may have approved $1 million in expenditures contingent on a future override vote — a necessary first step in bringing the matter to vote this summer — there needs to be a "marketing campaign" to educate the public on the need for the override before the election.

The override "is not a done deal," he said. "Speaking personally, I don't think the override will pass unless there's a strong marketing campaign. There will have to be a multitude of information because people are going to have a multitude of questions."

Brewer likened the town's work ahead to the tack it took following last November's election, when voters opted not to use excluded debt to fund Westport's financial obligation to the Diman vocational school project.

Town officials had recommended using excluded debt to fund the project, but when the vote failed, some concluded that the public hadn't been thoroughly informed of the ramifications of the vote, and a second public vote — at which excluded debt was finally authorized — was held earlier this Spring. Education is key to ensure that a similar fate doesn't befall the override vote, Brewer said.

Timeline
The appropriations approved at the May 7 Town Meeting are valid until mid-September. Select board members said Monday that they hope to hold a special election as soon as is reasonably possible, and member Steven Ouellette said he believes the town should shoot for Tuesday, July 24 as a likely date.

"The (various town) departments need the money as soon as they can get it, but we don't want to put pressure on the clerk's office," board member Shana Shufelt added.

Town Administrator James Hartnett said he has been working with the town's legal counsel, KP Law, to draft a ballot question, and said it should be ready for select board approval at the next meeting scheduled for Monday, May 30.

What does it all mean?
The town meeting vote earlier this month asked voters to approve a list of expenditures totaling $1 million that would be taken out of the total override amount should it pass at the upcoming election. Future appropriations would come from future Town Meetings, until the total amount of the override is fully appropriated.

An override to the state's Proposition 2 1/2, which allows no more than 2.5 percent levy growth per year, would allow the town to permanently add $3 million to the total levy, above and beyond the 2.5 percent growth allowed each year under the state law. Town officials have been pushing for an override since last year, saying town and school budgets are stretched beyond thin and will continue that way due to rising fixed costs and a resulting "structural deficit" that vexes Westport year in and year out. Though none have said an override will cure the town's fiscal problems, they have said it will help give the Westport breathing room and, with a permanent increase to the levy, a bit more long-term budget stability.

Should the override pass at the upcoming special election, $1 million out of the total amount would immediately go to various town departments, including:

• $405,000 to Westport Community Schools;
• $250,000 to the town's stabilization fund;
• $75,000 to police department salaries;
• $66,000 to fire department salaries;
• $65,000 to building department salaries;
• $60,000 to highway department salaries;
• $55,000 to information technology expenses;
• $19,000 to Council on Aging expenses;
• $5,000 to Council on Aging salaries.

— With reporting by Paige Shapiro