Author: Matt McDonald, Globe Correspondent

Section: GLOBE WEST
Page: 1

Worried about how Lincoln will continue to pay for local services, some officials in what is perhaps the most conservation-minded town in Greater Boston want residents to consider courting commercial developers to increase the town's tax base.

At issue is whether Lincoln should make land available for large-scale commercial development, such as office parks, along Route 2. Such a move, which would require extensive rezoning, would amount to a major shift in Lincoln's philosophy.

Town officials floating the idea are concerned that residents understand that at this point it's only an idea. Encouraging such development isn't a formal plan or even a recommendation, they said. Rather, it is something to discuss.

Commercial development is one of several topics expected to come up at the second State of the Town meeting, a gathering set for 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Lincoln School, where town officials and residents will hash out local issues.

"Is this an alternative that the town wants to consider, when we see what the consequences are if we aren't willing to consider it?" asked Selectman Gary Taylor.

Lincoln went most of the booming 1990s without a single override of Proposition 2 1/2, the state law that caps yearly increases in a town's tax levy. But overrides have been presented and passed the last couple of years, and town officials are predicting more.

The problem is that although the cost of providing services is rising - led by increases in health insurance, salaries, and other expenses - town revenue is falling, particularly local aid from the state.

State aid to towns and cities increased steadily when the economy was robust, but lawmakers decreased it last year, and town officials expect no increase - perhaps even another decrease - next year. At the same time, Taylor said, many Lincoln residents have made it clear that they want and expect roughly the current level of local government services to continue.

So town officials are finding that they have to raise taxes above the amount allowed by Proposition 2 1/2 just to keep the town running as is.

"We're looking at increased overrides to maintain level quality of services," said Paul Giese, cochairman of the Finance Committee.

Enter commercial development, a sensitive subject in a town that practically invented local land conservation in this area.

Some 97 percent of Lincoln's tax base is residential, said the town's principal assessor, Julie Miller.

Municipal planners say a top-heavy residential tax base tends to lead to a gap between costs and revenue, because residents tend to consume more in local government services - such as schools and public safety - than they pay in local property taxes. Owners of commercial property, meanwhile, tend to pay far more in local property taxes than the cost of the services they consume.

"We have less commercial property in Lincoln than most towns, and property owners are suffering as a result," Giese said.

Lincoln has only one sizable commercial development, Lincoln North, an office building with about 150,000 square feet of space on Old Bedford Road in North Lincoln, about as far from the center of town as you can get and still be in Lincoln. The building's owner, Ladylin Properties of Lincoln, is expected to pay about $236,785 in local property taxes during the current fiscal year, Miller said.

The question is: Does Lincoln want more such developments?

"I think it's an important opportunity to explore, but it has to be approached slowly, carefully, with everybody's understanding," Giese said.

Some are wary of the idea.

Penny Billings, chairwoman of the Lincoln Board of Selectmen, noted that substantial commercial development would change how Lincoln looks.

"I'd be reluctant to impose a long-term result for a short-term solution," Billings said. "If the town were to support an increase in the commercial tax base, that would have to be planned very carefully so as to minimize any adverse impact on the character of the town."

Mary Lincoln, who chairs the Conservation Commission, said she's open to the idea of commercial development, though she'd want to see the details before supporting such a plan.

"I don't think it's necessarily incompatible with open space or preservation of our town character," said Lincoln, who emphasized she was speaking for herself and not the Conservation Commission.

Although Lincoln has less commercial development than most of its neighbors, other area towns, including Ashland and Sudbury, have been trying to build their commercial tax bases to keep pace with the cost of services.

In addition to considering the possibility of development along Route 2, some Lincoln officials would also like to see residents discuss how to vitalize the town center. Lincoln has no sit-down restaurants, for instance, and Taylor noted that in recent years the town has lost even its pharmacy and video store.

"It'd be nice to have a bookstore and restaurants and a wine-and-cheese shop - a more vibrant town center where people would also have a social experience," Lincoln said.

Taylor emphasized that even if residents agree to encourage commercial development, it would become a long-term goal, over the next five to 10 years.

"Nothing in Lincoln, especially something this profound, happens without a lot of discussion and thought," Taylor said. "It's part of what makes Lincoln what it is."