BEVERLY — The real election is more than a month away, but support for a Proposition 21/2 override ruled the night last night at City Hall.

Nineteen of the 23 people who stepped to the podium at a City Council hearing strongly backed the need for a proposed $2.5 million annual property tax increase to deal with the school budget crisis.

The City Council unanimously approved spending $30,000 to hold a special election on June 3. The vote was a formality, since councilors had already voted three weeks ago to authorize the unprecedented election.

But last night's hearing enabled the public to speak, and the vast majority said an override is needed to at least buy time to come up with a better plan. Superintendent James Hayes has proposed closing Cove and McKeown elementary schools and laying off 61 school employees, among other cuts, to close a $2.6 million between spending and revenues.

Many speakers said the drastic changes are coming too fast and an override will allow everyone more time to consider other options.

"We need to do this once, and we need to do it correctly," Princeton Avenue resident Joanna Scott said. "An override can turn this budget crisis into an opportunity."

Not all of the speakers were parents with children in the schools. Lothrop Street resident Tim Averill said he is a senior citizen on a fixed income whose children are now grown, but, "I owe it to the citizens and students of Beverly to receive the kind of education my daughters received.

"This might shock people," Averill said, "but my taxes are not too high. I'm willing to pay for important things that I believe in."

Others said the extra $185 per year in taxes — the amount that would be owed by a homeowner with a house assessed at $450,000 — is worth the investment, not only to keep the school system viable but to prevent a decrease in property values.

Lovett Street resident John Hautala said a colleague of his has already decided against moving to Beverly.

"It wasn't the prospect of taxes going up $200," Hautala said. "It was the prospect of 30 children in a classroom."

Others said an override vote should be held during the preliminary or general election in the fall, when more people come out to vote, and not at a special election that will cost the city $30,000.

Hathaway Avenue resident Michael Grassic said residents should be given a chance to vote for a one-year override to buy time to devise a better plan, rather than the permanent tax increase that he said won't solve the school budget's structural problems.

"We will simply be putting a bucket below the pipe," he said.