Florence voters opt to avoid massive cuts
FLORENCE — The town’s Proposition 408 passed 877-301 in Tuesday’s special election, allowing normal expenditures to continue for the second straight year.
Prop. 408 asked Florence voters for permission to spend $15 million above the state-imposed budget limit in the new fiscal year, which begins July 1. Without it, the town would have had to lay off employees and make major cuts in services. The majority “yes” vote does not raise taxes, and a defeat would not have lowered taxes.
A year ago, local voters approved the same question by a margin of more than 3-1.
These May special elections have been necessary because a slim majority of voters declined to renew the town’s Home Rule option in the summer of 2014. Home Rule allows the town to budget and spend its revenues without adhering to a state spending limit. It has come up every four years for the last 30 years, and 2014 was apparently the first time a majority of Florence voters said no.
