Sentence:  Several signers affixed their names , it was learned , after being told that no tax increase would <WSD>be</WSD> possible without consent of the General Assembly and that a provision could be included in the charter to have the town take over the Johnston Sanitary District sewer system . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)