Letter to the Editor: Say No to Debt Exclusion for Burlington's Fiscal Future

To the Editor:

I urge my fellow Burlington residents to vote NO on the proposed debt exclusion override. This project would increase the town’s debt burden to unsustainable levels and represent the largest debt burden and tax increase in Burlington's history.

The Financial Impact

Burlington’s current bonded debt stands at roughly $83 million. The costs of the Fox Hill project, the new police station, and the proposed $333 million high school will increase our debt to about $540 million — and that’s before including Burlington's share of the upcoming Shawsheen Tech project and over $50 million in pending requests from town departments.

Payments on this debt would exceed $36 million per year for the next two decades, nearly one-fifth of the $187-million town budget approved this past May.

Economic Headwinds

This level of borrowing is especially risky given current economic realities.

Burlington’s commercial vacancy rate is around 20%. Meanwhile, nearly 20% of all retail sales now occur online. Even the Burlington Mall is shifting away from traditional retail toward restaurants and services.

Shifting Tax Burden

Our tax base is changing fast. Commercial property values are declining, while residential property values are increasing.

Just last month, Northeastern University purchased 4 Burlington Woods from MetLife for $33 million — a property MetLife had bought in 2022 for $103 million. As a nonprofit, Northeastern will now remove that property from our tax rolls entirely.

The tax burden is shifting from businesses to homeowners.

Missing State Support

The MSBA, since its inception, has issued $17.1 billion to 1138 school projects. No Massachusetts municipality in recent memory has built a school of this scale without matching funds from the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA).

Former Representative Charley Murphy secured MSBA funding for both the Marshall Simonds and Memorial school projects. There’s no reason Burlington shouldn’t pursue similar state support before asking residents to shoulder hundreds of millions in debt.

A Responsible Path Forward

This project should be delayed until one or more of the following conditions are met:

1. Existing debt is paid down;
2. State matching funds are secured through the MSBA; or
3. The proposal is scaled back into a more affordable, phased renovation plan.

In Conclusion

Burlington deserves excellent schools — but we also deserve fiscal responsibility and sustainable planning.

Approving this override now would burden residents for decades, at a time when our commercial tax base is shrinking and our debt obligations are already at historic highs.

Let’s take the time to do this right — not just fast.
Please vote NO on the debt exclusion override.

Phil Gallagher
8 Corcoran Rd.