WHAT QUESTION 4 ACTUALLY SAYS

“Do you, as citizens of Yarmouth, support the Constitutional rights of all citizens and non-citizens residing in the Town of Yarmouth to equal protection of the laws for Yarmouth residents?”

Read it again. “Non-citizens residing in the Town of Yarmouth.” This is a sanctuary resolution. It is designed to signal to federal immigration authorities that Yarmouth does not intend to cooperate with enforcement of federal immigration law.

FIVE REASONS TO VOTE NO

1. IT IS A WEALTH TRANSFER FROM CITIZENS TO NON-CITIZENS

Every dollar spent on shelter, education, healthcare, and legal representation for people who entered this country illegally is a dollar taken from citizens who earned it. Massachusetts taxpayers spent over $1 billion on emergency migrant shelters in a single year. That money did not come from Washington. It came from you. This is not compassion. It is confiscation — often championed by retired activists and nonprofit executives who pay little or no property tax themselves.

2. IT WAS ALREADY DEFEATED THROUGH PROPER DEMOCRATIC PROCESS

Yarmouth Town Meeting rejected this resolution. The activists who lost simply went around Town Meeting by collecting 35 signatures — 0.15% of registered voters — and put it directly on the ballot. If you vote YES, you are telling every future activist group that they can ignore Town Meeting whenever the result is inconvenient.

3. IT JEOPARDIZES FEDERAL FUNDING

The current federal administration has demonstrated it will withhold funding from jurisdictions that signal non-cooperation with immigration enforcement. Denver lost $2 million. Boston put $650,000 at risk. Somerville exposed $19.4 million. Yarmouth cannot afford to gamble with its federal grants over a symbolic vote pushed by people who moved here two years ago.

4. YOUR FAMILY’S SAFETY AND FINANCIAL SECURITY COME FIRST

Do the families of Yarmouth citizens not have the right to be safe and financially secure? Working parents on Cape Cod can barely afford to keep a roof over their children’s heads. Housing is gone. Rents are impossible. And the same people asking you to vote YES are also asking you to approve two permanent property tax overrides on the same ballot. They want more of your money to pay for policies that benefit people who are here illegally — while your own children go without.

5. “NON-BINDING” DOES NOT MEAN HARMLESS

A YES vote gives activists political ammunition to pressure the Select Board into formal sanctuary policies. It happened in Provincetown. It happened in Wellfleet. The playbook is documented. First the symbolic vote, then the policy demands. The only way to stop it is to vote NO.

ALSO ON THE BALLOT: TWO PERMANENT TAX OVERRIDES

Question 1 — D-Y Schools Override: Permanent Proposition 2 1/2 override for the $80.6 million school budget. No sunset clause. Includes $1.69 million for ELL programs serving 371 students. Once passed, your tax levy ceiling is raised forever. It compounds annually.

Question 2 — Cape Cod Tech Override: Second permanent Proposition 2 1/2 override on the same ballot. Same permanent structure. No expiration. You are being asked to permanently raise your property taxes twice in one election.

Question 3 — Library Debt Exclusion: Marketed as temporary. Debt exclusions typically last 20 to 30 years.

Four questions on one ballot. Three of them raise your taxes. One of them invites more costs. We recommend NO on all four.