The ongoing visioning process will be in evidence at the Tisbury town meeting this year, with several warrant articles dedicated to preserving town structures, creating open space and streamlining town government. But the rising cost of government, especially in the schools, will also be in evidence with voters facing a request for a tax override for the second year in a row.

A special town meeting begins at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Tisbury School gymnasium, immediately followed by the annual town meeting. Moderator Deborah Medders will preside. There are 16 articles on the special warrant and 38 on the annual warrant.

The annual town election takes place on April 28 and includes six ballot questions, all involving exemptions from Proposition 2 1/2, the state tax cap.

The need for an override for the second straight year can be tracked to an increase in the operating budget for the Tisbury School, which is up 6.4 per cent over last year. “Almost all of this is in salaries,” town finance and advisory committee chairman Larry Gomez told the town selectmen at a recent meeting. “They’ve kept their expenses down considerably; it’s the labor and salaries that we can’t do much about.”

On Wednesday this week, town treasurer Tim McLean said that while last year’s override was intended to not only fund the fiscal year 2015 budget but also to create a cushion for the following year, in the end it wasn’t enough. “We just couldn’t absorb it into the overall budget process,” Mr. McLean said. “So 6.4 per cent would have eaten up every dollar of available funds. We were hoping not to have an override for the second year in a row, but it was unavoidable.”

He said if the override is approved, the tax rate would likely increase by 30 cents. The rest of the town operating budget remains stable, he said.

“Everything seems to be pretty much on par,” Mr. McLean said. “[The school] was the one thing.”

Voters will be asked to approve a $24.3 million town operating budget, an increase of 4.7 per cent over last year.

Spending items on the warrant include $1 million for a new building for the Tisbury Water Works, a project that has been under discussion for some time. The water company has been housed in the same location since the mid 1970s.

Other items are for Islandwide initiatives, including a county proposal to buy the former Vineyard Nursing Association building for use by the Center for Living, and a separate project to build new administration headquarters for the Vineyard schools superintendent on the high school campus.

The Tisbury finance committee backs the $3.9 million superintendent’s building but not the VNA building purchase. The committee also voted to not recommend a $15,042 request that would pay for the town’s share of an initiative to create a one-stop online referral system for elder services. The selectmen do support the latter initiative. “I think for one shining moment, all of these organizations are saying yes, we want to do this together, so I think that’s a very nice thing,” selectman Melinda Loberg said at a recent meeting. “I think this is a bargain price,” selectman Tristan Israel agreed.

It will be up to voters to decide.

The special town meeting warrant includes a request to add three new full-time town employees. The fire and ambulance department wants to add a new paramedic position, and the selectmen want to establish a human resource coordinator and an information technology administrator in the town hall. IT work is currently done by Mr. McLean, who will retire in November, and occasional contractors.

Another article on the special warrant expected to draw debate asks voters to take the first steps toward abolishing the town department of public works, created by an act of the legislature in 1989.

The planning board is proposing a zoning bylaw amendment that would require a special permit for commercial structures more than 3,000 square feet in the B-1 business district. The amendment is a reaction to the failed Stop & Shop expansion project from last year; when the project was reviewed by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, it came to light that Tisbury had no zoning bylaw requiring review at the local level for large-scale projects.

Voters will be asked to allocate $240,000 in ferry embarkation fee projects, including wages for summer police officers and new radios for the fire and ambulance departments. The police department has requested $20,000 to buy and install cameras to record pedestrian and vehicle traffic at the Steamship Authority traffic circle and on Water street.

Embarkation fees are disbursed to all port towns by the boat line.

More than $950,000 in Community Preservation Act funding requests are on the annual warrant. Regional requests include Tisbury’s share of funding for the ongoing Gay Head Light move, the installation of a new track at the regional high school, and funding for the Dukes County Regional Housing Authority’s rental assistance program.

Town requests include the creation of public pocket parks at the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse and at the Lagoon Pond drawbridge, and new pedestrian and cyclist accommodations at the Tashmoo Overlook. These and others spring from the recent town visioning process, which articulated as priorities creating more open space in town and preserving iconic town structures. Upgrades for two structures, the Katharine Cornell Theatre and the Owen Park gazebo, are also on the warrant: voters will be asked to spend $80,000 to restore the gazebo, and $50,000 to update the lighting system and equipment at the theatre.

The six ballot questions on April 28 include the override, funding of the VNA and superintendent’s building, funding for a project to put Beach Road utility poles underground, a property purchase at 14 Pine street, and another one on Main street adjacent to the public library.