Vote No Yarmouth — Know the Cost Before You Vote May 19

Four Questions. Your Money.

DY School Override

Permanent Prop 2½ tax increase for Dennis-Yarmouth schools. $80.6M budget. Never expires.

Cape Cod Tech Override

Second permanent Prop 2½ override on the same ballot. Two tax hikes at once.

Library Debt Exclusion

"Temporary" tax increase for library construction. Debt exclusions last 20–30 years. Nothing temporary about that.

Sanctuary Resolution

Non-binding sanctuary city question. Filed by 35 signatures — 0.15% of voters. Previously defeated at Town Meeting.

Who Pays? Not Everyone.

Yarmouth has approximately 12,500 taxable residential parcels and 22,842 registered voters.

Not every voter pays property taxes — but every voter gets to raise them.

Massachusetts requires no voter ID and actively encourages mail-in balloting. High-turnout override campaigns can pass tax increases that disproportionately affect homeowners and landlords while renters and seasonal residents face no direct cost.

If all three fiscal questions pass, property owners absorb the entire cost — permanently for Q1 and Q2, for years on Q3. Voters who don't own property have no skin in the game.

If you own property in Yarmouth, these questions are about your money.

Did You Know?

Facts from public records. Refreshed on every page load.

Question 1

$80.6M School Budget

The DY school district already spends $80.6 million per year. They're asking for a permanent override on top of that — with no end date, ever.

DY School District Budget, FY2025

Question 1

$1.69M on ELL Programs

The district spends $1.69 million per year on English Language Learner programs alone — serving a population where 29.1% of students don't speak English at home.

DY School District data

Tax Impact

Overrides Are Forever

A Prop 2½ override permanently raises the tax levy ceiling. Every future 2.5% increase builds on the higher base. There is no sunset clause.

MGL Ch. 59, Sec. 21C

Question 2

Two Overrides, One Ballot

If both Q1 and Q2 pass, Yarmouth homeowners approve two permanent tax increases on the same day. The combined impact compounds every year.

Yarmouth Town Ballot, May 19, 2026

Question 4

35 Signatures = Ballot Question

Question 4 was placed on the ballot after just 35 petition signatures — 0.15% of Yarmouth's 22,842 registered voters. Filed by an activist who registered in August 2024.

Yarmouth Town Clerk records

Question 4

Already Defeated Once

A substantially similar sanctuary resolution was previously defeated at Yarmouth Town Meeting. Now it's back as a ballot question — bypassing the deliberative process.

Yarmouth Town Meeting records

Property Taxes

12,500 Parcels Pay the Bill

Every override dollar is divided among ~12,500 taxable residential parcels. Not every voter owns property — but every voter can raise your taxes.

Yarmouth Assessor data

Outside Money

$415K from New Bedford

The Coalition for Social Justice — based in New Bedford, not Cape Cod — has raised over $415,000 for sanctuary-style ballot measures across Massachusetts.

MA OCPF filings, 2017–2022

Federal Risk

Sanctuary = Funding Risk

Denver spent $2M+ on legal defense. Boston spent $650K. Somerville risks $19.4M in federal funding. Even non-binding resolutions signal policy intent.

Municipal budget records, court filings

The Bottom Line

On May 19, Yarmouth voters face four ballot questions:

Two permanent tax increases with no end date (Q1 & Q2)
One "temporary" tax increase that lasts 20–30 years for library debt (Q3)
One sanctuary resolution filed by 35 people, previously defeated at Town Meeting (Q4)
No detailed cost-per-household analysis provided to voters
Renters and non-property-owners can vote to raise taxes they don't pay

Yarmouth homeowners deserve answers — and a voice — before the vote.

Polling Info for May 19