By Jeff Fish
Town Manager William Manager William R. Ross announced at Wednesday night’s Board of Selectmen meeting, that the town’s budget was safe from the wrangling on Beacon Hill over a $500 million transportation bill.
Governor Deval Patrick vetoed the bill on July 19, saying it wasn’t good enough, according to the Boston Globe. He said the bill does not address the issue of lost revenues, should the tolls West of Interstate 95 close as scheduled in 2017.
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Patrick supported an amendment that would have had gas taxes go up automatically, should the tolls close. He criticized lawmakers who don’t believe the tolls will actually close. “I believe this is an issue to be dealt with now, not put off to another day,” he told the Globe.
State legislators voted 123-33 in the state House of Representatives and 35-5 in the state Senate to override the veto, allowing unrestricted local aid to increase by $21.3 million from last year to $920.2 million this year, according to MassLive.com.
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“What a failure of the Legislature to override Gov. Patrick's veto would mean to Mansfield: the balanced budget we passed at Town Meeting would be $1.6 million in the hole,” said Selectman Olivier Kozlowski before Wednesday’s override.
Ross assured the Board of Selectmen Wednesday night that “the budget is good, the aid lost [from Patrick’s veto] has been restored.”Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.