Voters next Tuesday will be asked whether they want to use excluded debt to fund Westport's financial obligation to the new Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School project in Fall River.

If approved, Question 5 would allow the town to use excluded debt to fund Westport’s portion of the $293.5 million project cost. For the owner of a $500,000 home, that would require an approximate $55 per year tax increase, or $11.04 per $100,000 assessed value.

If voters reject Question 5, Westport cannot exclude or exempt its debt from the tax levy; it would have to be funded from the town’s operating budget, or the question could be presented again at a future election.

Question 5 comes after voters at May's Annual Town Meeting approved borrowing to cover the 5.3 percent obligation called for under a 1962 Regional School Agreement. Under it, the Massachusetts School Building Authority will cover approximately 80 percent of eligible, approved project costs, with the approximately 20 percent balance paid by participating communities, including Westport, which has 80 to 110 students currently enrolled at Diman.

Approving the question next Tuesday would allow the town to raise tax revenue apart from that generated under the 2.5 percent tax levy increase limit stipulated in State Proposition 2½.

Excluded debt allows towns to fund large building and other projects without impacting existing revenue requirements and levy limits. In this way, a town can build a school or other building and not fund it from its existing revenues. Though excluded debt brings a temporary tax increase, the increase disappears after the financing bonds are paid off, usually in 10 or 20 years.