Arlington 2023 Election: Voters Say 'Yes' On 2 Ballot Questions

ARLINGTON, MA — The Arlington voters went to the polls Tuesday to consider two ballot questions as part of a Special Town Election.

The questions were yes/no and needed a simple majority to pass. In both cases, the "yes" votes prevailed.

Question 1 asked whether the Town can assess an additional $7 million in real estate and personal property taxes beginning on July 1, 2024 (fiscal year 2025) in order to fund operating budgets of the Town and Public Schools.

According to unofficial results, there were 7,950 "Yes" votes to 4,964 "No" votes on the question.

Since Proposition 2 ½ passed in 1980, Massachusetts municipalities have been allowed to increase their total property tax revenues by no more than 2.5 percent each year. However, Arlington expenses regularly rise by more than that, necessitating overriding the 2.5 percent limit every few years.

According to Your Arlington.com, voters have approved overrides several times, most recently in 2019.

Question 2 involved giving the Town authorization to establish a means-tested Senior Citizen Property Tax Exemption.

On that question, there were 10,874 "Yes" votes and 1,944 "No" votes, according to unofficial results.

The exemption would allow taxpayers 65 and older whose property tax value and income fall below thresholds set by the state to apply for relief of up to 50 percent on their tax bill. However, the total relief the town grants can't exceed 1 percent of total property tax revenue for a given year.

The Assessors Office, according to Your Arlington.com, reported that about 6,000 people in Arlington qualified for tax relief in 2022, according to statistics from the Department of Revenue.

According to Arlington officials, there were 12,947 ballots counted in the Special Town Election.

More information about the ballot questions is available online.

The ballot questions were:

• Question 1: Shall the Town of Arlington be allowed to assess an additional $7,000,000 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of funding the operating budgets of the Town and the Public Schools for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024?
• Question 2: Shall this town accept the provisions of Chapter 285 of the Acts of 2020 "An Act Authorizing the Town of Arlington to Establish a Means Tested Senior Citizen Property Tax Exemption?"