NORTON - When selectmen voted last month to return a temporary $1.9 million tax override proposal to voters just two weeks after it was rejected, they explained their decision as a response to voter confusion over the two-question ballot used in June.

But circumstances aside, outside experts say the decision to hold a revote in Norton is part of a growing trend across the state, as municipal officials in cash-strapped towns step up their attempts to override the tax limits mandated since 1982 by Proposition 2½.

"Having a second attempt at an override is not uncommon or unheard of," said John Robertson, who closely tracks such decisions statewide as legislative director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association.

A spokesman for the state Department of Revenue, Bob Bliss, agreed.

"I would not call it extraordinary," Bliss said. "And actually, we're seeing the frequency of it pick up." Just last Friday, Bridgewater selectmen followed in Norton's footsteps and voted to hold a second override election in September after a June attempt was defeated, although they made major changes to the proposed override before approving a second try.

There is also mounting speculation that a second vote will take place in Dartmouth, where a mammoth $8.46 million override proposal lost by just 232 votes out 11,146 cast last Tuesday.

"It is unusual, but these are unusual times for the towns," said Michael Kryzanek, a professor of political science at Bridgewater State College. "A number of towns are in desperate straits these days."

Balancing municipal budgets has become more difficult for city and town officials in recent years, as they face a destructive combination of reduced local aid, so-so economic growth, and exploding costs, especially for health insurance.

Repeated override attempts are "reflective of the fact that in communities, there's a lot of financial stress," Bliss said. "If you get down to having to cut dramatically, maybe it's worth taking another look (at an override) and trying to make it work."

The scale of the crisis gripping local cities and towns is only slowly dawning on state lawmakers, according to Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, an influential business-funded watchdog group.

"I call it the 'Big Squeeze,' " he said. "I think we're going to see more and more of it, even without a recession. And if there is a recession - well, then it's 'Katie, bar the door!' "

Widmer also said that under the circumstances, officials in Norton made the right call in scheduling a second vote.

"If the selectmen believe there was some confusion, then I don't find it objectionable," he said.

But anti-tax activist Barbara Anderson, who heads the Bay State advocacy group Citizens for Limited Taxation, vehemently disagreed. "They shouldn't be doing it again," Anderson said. "With any luck, the voters will defeat it this time by an even wider margin."

"I doubt that the voters were that confused," she added, although selectmen maintain that many were. "That's what the other side of a losing question always says about the voters."

Citizens for Limited Taxation is pushing a bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Scott Brown, R-Wrentham, that would limit municipalities to only one override every 12 months, although she acknowledged it stands little chance of passing.

Anderson was a driving force behind Prop. 2½ back in 1980, and she said the law's proponents never expected its override provision to end up as widely used as it is today.

"The override was meant for emergencies. It was supposed to be a safety net," she said. "Over the years, they've been having overrides for things they shouldn't be using them for. People are realizing there's no end to it."

But Kryzanek, who serves on his town's school committee, defended Norton's selectmen, noting that they are taking a significant political risk by forcing town voters back to the polls.

"They feel it's their obligation as public servants to do this," he said. "Town officials must ensure that the services are there. They have to, in good conscience, at least make an effort to try and raise the money."

"If they fail," Kryzanek added, "they have to go back to the drawing board and start cutting."

TED NESI can be reached at tnesi@thesunchronicle.com or 508-236-0434.