Municipalities can raise tax revenue beyond annual statutory limits imposed by

Proposition 2½ M.G.L Ch. 59 Sec. 21C through a referendum to approve an override or an exclusion, or they can reduce the amount taxed through an underride. With one exception, legal authority to place a question on the ballot rests solely with the board of selectmen, city council or town council. Only an underride can also be placed before the voters through a local initiative petition process. Otherwise, overrides and underrides require a majority vote, while exclusions require a two-thirds vote of the local appropriating authority and, to take effect, all must receive a majority of votes in a city or town election. Under the Proposition 2½ statute, local appropriating authority is defined, in a town, as the board of selectmen.

from MA general law, chapter 59, section 21C:

''Shall the (city/town) of ___ be allowed to assess an additional $___ in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of (state the purpose(s) for which the monies from this assessment will be used) for the fiscal year beginning July first, nineteen hundred and ___?

So, the override is coming, the override is coming, okay, but for it to happen, it has to be approved by the voters. Selectmen do not just get to say we need an override and BAM, it goes into effect.

Lastly, amendments in 2003 to Ch. 40, Sec 5b allow a municipality to establish special purpose stabilization funds and to build balances in them through a type of override, which also has characteristics of a debt exclusion. Through initial approval, by two thirds vote, of town meeting (and the selectmen), a city council or a town council, a referendum can be placed before the voters asking whether to raise tax revenue, by majority vote, above Proposition 2½ limits for the purpose of the stabilization fund. In succeeding years, solely through an annual vote of the selectmen, city council or town council, the override can be continued, lowered or deferred entirely and resumed, or not, in a later year. Like an override, the additional tax can continue year-after-year without town-wide or city-wide referendum votes beyond the year of inception and, each year, the amount available to be raised increases by 2½ percent. However, like an exclusion under Proposition 2½, the levy limit increase need not be permanent. It can be discontinued in any year.

This approach would be one way to fund the infrastructure stabilization fund just created by town meeting vote. Not the only way, but one way.