Needham homeowners are one step closer to a tax increase after the Select Board voted Monday, August 3, to place a $325.4 million Pollard Middle School debt exclusion override on the November 3 ballot.

The board held a special meeting at Town Hall with two items, both tied to the Pollard rebuild, according to the town's meeting agenda. First, members approved the Warner Field Memorandum of Agreement, which allows the town to use Warner Field at the DeFazio Complex during construction. Second, they voted to place the Proposition 2½ debt exclusion question before voters on Election Day.

If Needham voters approve the override on November 3, property taxes will rise to fund the town's share of the new 265,572-square-foot school for grades 6 through 8. The estimated peak tax impact on the average single-family home is $2,366 per year in 2034, though School Committee Chair Alisa Skatrud said at a June 30 community meeting that figure was "outdated and higher than expected." An updated estimate has not been released.

If the override fails, the fallback is a $167 million repair of the existing building that would not qualify for state reimbursement. Superintendent Dan Gutekanst warned at the June 30 community meeting that a failed vote would force the town into more meetings about a repair that wouldn't deliver the educational facility Needham needs for generations.

The $325.4 million budget includes a 7% construction contingency of roughly $18.3 million. The project would consolidate the current Pollard, which serves grades 7 and 8, with the High Rock sixth-grade center into a single building. The Massachusetts School Building Authority is expected to reimburse 20 to 25 percent of the cost, potentially $65 to $80 million.

The Warner Field agreement had already been adopted by the School Committee at a special July 28 meeting. The field's use became a sticking point after geothermal well plans for the new school ran into land conservation concerns, prompting discussions with multiple town committees in July.

As we reported on the Warner Field deal and Pollard ballot vote on July 28, the Select Board's vote had been anticipated since late June, when the School Building Committee and School Committee both endorsed the schematic design.

Select Board member Cathy Dowd voiced her support for the project in an April interview with the Needham Observer: "It is an expensive project, and it's a big ask, and we need to be respectful of the taxpayer and try to find whatever ways we can to get the best bang for our buck and not waste money on it. But we need to do it."

Several milestones remain before construction can begin.

The MSBA full board votes on the project's scope and budget on August 26. Town Meeting must authorize the debt on October 19. Then Needham voters will have the final say on November 3.