CLT
UPDATE
Friday, May 16, 2003
Revolution is in the air
School supporters want the town to call a special election before June 30 and vote again on the proposal to build a third high school, which failed in the annual town election Saturday. The deciding vote will be selectman Christopher Lombard, who said last night that he won't support another election.... "The democratic process is what it is," Lombard said. "The majority has spoken. Democracy doesn't guarantee voter turnout."
John Kilbourne, a member of Support Plymouth's Future, which supported a 'yes' vote on Question 2, said voters were misinformed by members of the Homeowner's Alliance For Lower Taxation (HALT), which campaigned for a 'no' vote.
"(HALT) simply lied to the residents of Plymouth," Kilbourne said. "They spread fear and uncertainty that in a civilized society should be illegal."
Kilbourne also said voter turnout was low, and that parents of school children did not cast ballots.
Old Colony Memorial
Wednesday, May 14, 2003
School plan fails, losers want to try again
A proposed $1.9 million override proved too bulky for voters in the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District last night.
While Wenham voters approved the measure, their counterparts in Hamilton -- facing property tax increases of as much as $1,000 next year -- rejected it.
Both towns needed to approve the override for the $20.2 million school budget to take effect.
"We are very disappointed in the outcome of the ballot vote for our children and young people," School Committee Chairman Nancy Morse read from a prepared statement after the vote was announced. "It is a devastating loss for our School Committee."
Yet voters leaving the polls yesterday used adjectives like "ridiculous," "flagrant" and "outrageous" to describe the proposed override.
The Salem News
Friday, May 16, 2003
Hamilton voters reject school override
By lopsided majorities, voters in yesterday's special election turned down a series of Proposition 2½ overrides that would have added hundreds of dollars to the annual tax bill of the average home owner.
In the four-part "pyramid question," the higher the amount of the proposed override, the lower the support it received.
The override proposal that came the closest to passage was the one seeking $2.5 million for schools and town government, which captured 38 percent of the vote.
The proposal with the least support was for a $5.2 million override, which had the support of 22 percent of the voters....
"Now we are looking forward to the people who voted no to come forward with creative solutions to the town's budget crisis," said Suzanne
Choumitsky, co-chairman of the "Yes for Randolph Committee".
"I'm looking forward to see how they solve $5.2 million worth of problems without $5.2 million," she said. "I think people don't want to pay more taxes. They don't trust government and they don't want to pay for it."
The Patriot Ledger
Wednesday, May 14, 2003
Randolph voters in no mood for overrides:
Officials scramble to balance budget; warn of deep cuts
Two proposed overrides of Proposition 2½ totaling $16 million failed at the polls yesterday, leaving officials to deal with a budget they say promises to cripple town programs and services next fiscal year.
Voters rejected a proposed $13.9 million debt exclusion override, 5,621-5,440. They defeated a proposed $2.1 million general override by a much wider margin, 6,064-5,023.
The special election drew 22,323 of Braintree's 33,513 registered voters, a 66.6 percent voter turnout and one of the largest in town history.
The result could prove a litmus test for state lawmakers wondering whether Massachusetts taxpayers would accept the tax increases some say are needed to prevent budget cuts. Gov. Mitt Romney has insisted they would not....
"We're hugely disappointed," said Joseph Hubbard, who was active in the pro-override group Save Braintree. But, he said, there is an "underlying feeling in town that there is a tremendous amount of waste in town government."
The Patriot Ledger
Wednesday, May 14, 2003
2 Braintree requests rejected, putting town in cutting mode
The idea of a tax increase to bail out the city budget is getting a cold shoulder from City Council President Jason D. Buffington and others.
Some city unions have floated the idea of a temporary tax hike in the form of a debt exclusion to help close a $6 million shortfall and avoid layoffs, but the proposal is getting a thumbs down....
Councilor Debra A. Botellio is against a tax hike.
"We have other options that we need to look at," said Botellio. "I think it's totally unfair to put any extra burden on the taxpayers now. People are going though hard times, and we have to find the funds elsewhere."
Botellio said taxpayers will be up in arms next year when they see their property tax bills increasing due to revaluation.
"People are going to get hit pretty hard under revaluation," said
Botellio.
The Brockton Enterprise
Thursday, May 15, 2003
Tax increase idea receiving cool reception in Taunton
Proposition 2½ overrides could cost the average Pembroke homeowner more than $700 a year, a report from the town treasurer indicates.
When town department heads meet today, they will read a report from the town treasurer who calculates that the average taxpayer will be paying an additional $810.12 a year to cover the cost of school construction and the $1.7 million override on June 21 at a special election, if passed by the voters....
[Chief Assessor-Appraiser Maureen] O'Connor said voters need to keep in mind that these increases do not include the routine annual budget increases the town is allowed when it raises its levy limit by
2½ percent a year.
The Brockton Enterprise
Thursday, May 15, 2003
Override tab for 'average' home might reach $800 in Pembroke
Score one for Gov. Mitt Romney's coattails, reform agenda and no-new-taxes message in a special state rep election and a Proposition
2½ override vote in Braintree on Tuesday.
The GOP formula of Romney's personal intercession and a newly-aggressive Republican State Committee worked even if the young candidate, a heavy underdog, did lose a squeaker. So the Democrats now must brace for something they haven't seen for years: A whole host of legislative challenges in 2004. And they surely received a scary message: Try to revive a tax increase this fall at your peril....
Barbara Anderson, executive director of the tax-fighting Citizens for Limited
Taxation, said, "This is a victory for Mitt because it's got to scare the legislators. There has to be a sense that 'Hey, this could happen to me,' that they actually could lose their seats."
The Boston Herald
Thursday, May 15, 2003
For gov, a moral victory in Braintree
by Wayne Woodlief
Yesterday, by aiming for the elimination of Bulger's job in a special bill that must be considered by the Legislature within 60 days, the governor has put down the clearest marker yet on the issue. Romney is simultaneously forcing lawmakers into an uncomfortable vote and sending a message that he will not back down from his chosen fights, no matter how entrenched or powerful the opposition....
But Romney said yesterday that his approach to reform holds weight with the public. He held up a narrow special election loss by a 24-year-old House candidate Tuesday in Braintree as evidence that those who stand in his way have reason to worry.
"I think it's a wake-up call to those who want to oppose reform," Romney said. "If we can do that in Braintree, with a first-time candidate, then we'll be able to make sure that people who oppose reform face good challengers."
The Boston Globe
Thursday, May 15, 2003
Loss on Bulger can turn into a win for governor
Legislators won't be able to hide behind supporting some reforms in the budget now that Gov. Mitt Romney has unveiled his sweeping government reorganization plans under Article 87 of the state Constitution. Within 60 days or so, voters will know whether, in the midst of a fiscal crisis, the Legislature remains wed to the patronage and power of the status quo.
A Boston Herald editorial
Thursday, May 15, 2003
Votes on reforms one way or another
To House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran, doling out pay increases to his lieutenants is apparently a public emergency.
Yesterday, Finneran, with only five lawmakers present in the House chamber, attached an "emergency preamble" to the controversial bill, which would give him greater authority to give bonus pay to legislators....
The constitution provides that a law can be declared an emergency if it is "necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety, or convenience." ...
The House majority leader, Salvatore DiMasi, said the emergency preamble is a "convenience" to help the Legislature operate and will allow the immediate creation of the new committee on homeland security. "We are not hiding behind 9/11," DiMasi said, when pressed about the homeland security argument. "We are attending to the public's convenience."
The Boston Globe
Friday, May 16, 2003
Emergency comes with a bonus
Even as the state confronts its worst fiscal crisis since the Great Depression, state spending is poised to increase next year, just like it has every year since 1993, according to an analysis by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation....
The state faces a gap of as much as $3 billion between expected revenues and the amount of spending that would be needed to maintain current levels of services for the fiscal year. Romney would increase spending by $374 million, or 1.6 percent, and the House would boost the bottom line by $288 million, or 1.3 percent, the taxpayers foundation's analysis found....
The Boston Globe
Friday, May 16, 2003
As budgets worsens, spending to increase
Chip Ford's CLT
Commentary
"(The override opposition) simply lied to the residents of
Plymouth. They spread fear and uncertainty that in a civilized society should be illegal."
"We are very disappointed in the outcome of
the ballot vote for our children and young people."
"Now we are looking forward to the people who voted no to come forward with creative solutions to the town's budget
crisis. I'm looking forward to see how they solve $5.2 million worth of problems without $5.2
million."
"We're hugely disappointed," said Joseph Hubbard, who was active in the pro-override group Save Braintree. But, he said, there is an "underlying feeling in town that there is a tremendous amount of waste in town government."
"[Taunton City Councilor Debra] Botellio said taxpayers will be up in arms next year when they see their property tax bills increasing due to
revaluation," responding to a union-proposed "temporary tax hike"
debt exclusion override. "'People are going to get hit pretty hard under
revaluation.'"
"Voter turnout was low ... parents of school children did not cast
ballots," so those who supported the failed override want another
election, immediately.
*
* *
It must be shocking for them that they can't control
voters like they stack town meetings.
Yesterday Hamilton added itself to the growing lists
of municipalities where voters have rejected Proposition 2½ overrides,
there by 1,586 to 1,129.
Taxpayers are in open revolt, the frustrated
tax-and-spend crowd is getting ugly, and some politicians are getting
it, seeing the handwriting on the wall.
Welcome to the "fiscal crisis" of 2003 that
nobody's buying this time.
They've heard the boy cry wolf too often to be
suckered again.
"You can fool some of the people all of the
time, all of the people some of the time," said "Honest
Abe" Lincoln, "but you can't fool all of the people all of the
time."
This is one of those latter times.
The "$3 billion state budget deficit" is
recognized as merely a reduction in anticipated spending; the
proposed "bare-bones budget" is actually an increase
over the current year's budget ... just not as big an increase as
Beacon Hill has gotten used to. The billion-dollars-a-year increased
spending binge is over.
Governor Romney is asserting his reform mandate
against hostile opposition, while House Speaker Tom Finneran continues
politics-as-usual among his compliant sheep, asserting his power with
usual legislative sleight-of-hand. While the governor fights to set
priorities, eliminate waste, duplication and patronage, and put the
brakes on taxes, the speaker obsessively strives to further consolidate
his control with more pay raises for his favorites, even to a ridiculous
declaration that they are an emergency "necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety, or convenience."
Long-overdue government reform vs. politics-as-usual.
What a contrast of values, of "the vision thing."
The Beacon Hill insiders' game has been exposed and
the public is absorbing the pathological reality.
A growing majority of taxpayers is asserting that
it's "mad as hell and not going to take it any more."
Demand for dramatic change, revolution, is in the
air. Too many politicians still don't smell it. If awareness fails them
now, their feeding at the public trough may soon be terminated, at long
last.
|
|
|
Chip
Ford |
Old Colony Memorial
Wednesday, May 14, 2003
School plan fails, losers want to try again
By Suzanne Colonna and Brian Falk
MPG Newspapers
PLYMOUTH - School supporters want the town to call a special election before June 30 and vote again on the proposal to build a third high school, which failed in the annual town election Saturday. The deciding vote will be selectman Christopher Lombard, who said last night that he won't support another election.
After hearing from school supporters that Saturday's vote may have been skewed by misinformation, poor ballot question wording and low voter turnout, the selectmen split 2-2 last night on bringing the question back in a special election.
Lombard was absent, so his would be the deciding vote if selectmen reconsider the question at their next meeting May 20. Reached for comment late last night, Lombard said he would oppose asking voters the same question again.
"The democratic process is what it is," Lombard said. "The majority has spoken. Democracy doesn't guarantee voter turnout."
The school building question, Question 2, failed Saturday by a vote of 3,910 to 2,832 (See separate story, page A7). Tuesday night, around 75 people turned out to ask selectmen to hold another vote.
John Kilbourne, a member of Support Plymouth's Future, which supported a 'yes' vote on Question 2, said voters were misinformed by members of the Homeowner's Alliance For Lower Taxation (HALT), which campaigned for a 'no' vote.
"(HALT) simply lied to the residents of Plymouth," Kilbourne said. "They spread fear and uncertainty that in a civilized society should be illegal."
Kilbourne also said voter turnout was low, and that parents of school children did not cast ballots.
Superintendent of schools Steve Hiersche urged selectmen to reconsider the question for financial reasons. He said the 58 percent state reimbursement Plymouth could get if it approves the $45 million project before June 30 would now go to other communities.
School committee chairman James Sorensen said a number of voters have approached him and said they were confused by the ballot questions. Question 1, which asked for a larger school project, was essentially moot. Question 2, asking for just the new high school, was the one that counted. That's the one that was approved by town meeting.
Looking at the number of votes on Question 1, Sorensen said he wonders how many people who meant to support the new high school voted for Question 1 and against Question 2.
Members of HALT spoke against the notion of reconsidering the vote.
"I'm at an absolute loss to understand that a lot of people here tonight don't understand the democratic system," said HALT president Charles
Checkley.
Fellow HALT member Frank Paoluccio agreed. "We did have an election, and the election was won fairly and squarely," he said. "Because it didn't happen their way, that's too bad," he said.
Selectman David Rushforth asked his board to call a special election to reconsider the third high school question. Rushforth agreed with many in the audience that the question was confusing and voters were misinformed.
"Voters have a right to have the correct information," Rushforth said.
Selectmen David Malaguti and Richard Quintal voted against holding another election.
Malaguti questioned whether state reimbursement would still be there in the future, when other formerly "sacred" state aid categories have been cut.
"I have to respect what the people have said," Malaguti said. "If people didn't turn out, that's a shame, that's too bad, that's absolutely criminal...but those who did turn out to vote overwhelmingly defeated both of these questions."
"You make a lot of good arguments," Quintal told the audience. "However, I think you made them a little late, or you didn't get your message as clear as you should have."
Chairman Kenneth Tavares chastised both sides of the campaign for being insulting and withholding information. "If you want to run a successful political campaign, examine who you put out front," Tavares said, "And quite frankly, you had a couple of losers."
However, Tavares voted to hold a special election, to make sure accurate information about the project gets to the voters. "I feel that it is my responsibility, even if it means one more chance for people to get information out, to do it, because it is all about taxes."
Lombard, however, said after the meeting that he would not be swayed by the arguments in favor of holding a second vote on the project.
"This reminds me of a child who wants to put his hand in the cookie jar, the mom says no, so he asks the dad," Lombard said.
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The Salem News
Friday, May 16, 2003
Hamilton voters reject school override
By Anna Scott, Staff writer
A proposed $1.9 million override proved too bulky for voters in the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District last night.
While Wenham voters approved the measure, their counterparts in Hamilton -- facing property tax increases of as much as $1,000 next year -- rejected it.
Both towns needed to approve the override for the $20.2 million school budget to take effect.
"We are very disappointed in the outcome of the ballot vote for our children and young people," School Committee Chairman Nancy Morse read from a prepared statement after the vote was announced. "It is a devastating loss for our School Committee."
Yet voters leaving the polls yesterday used adjectives like "ridiculous," "flagrant" and "outrageous" to describe the proposed override.
Matt Carleo, 19-year-old Hamilton resident, graduated from the special education program at Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School last year.
He came out to vote this year for one reason: to turn down the override.
"In Massachusetts we're trying to tighten our belt straps," he said. "I think Hamilton should, too. They should learn to use the money they have."
"When I was there, they had five mental health counselors," Carleo said. "That's ridiculous."
The School Committee now has two options: accept the budget as it is, without any override, or go back to the towns with a lower number. They have 30 days to make a decision.
"My suggestion is that we make this decision as soon as possible," said Catherine Harrison, the committee's finance chairman. She scheduled a meeting for Tuesday night to begin discussing alternatives.
Three School Committee members -- Andy Calkins, Don Gallant and Bill Martin -- said they wanted to go back to the towns with a lower override amount. The other members had no comment.
If the committee decides on an alternative budget, the towns would have 45 days to call a special Town Meeting, and an election if the committee asks for another override.
Last night's override would have cost Hamilton residents $1.3 million. Wenham's share was $576,000. The measure passed in Wenham, 653 to 609; it failed in Hamilton, 1,586 to 1,129.
Residents in both towns were upset when the committee decided to give voters only one override option this year. Last year, voters had a choice between two amounts. They approved the lesser budget, which entailed a $1.1 million override.
Other residents felt the $1.9 million override -- the largest in the history of the district -- would be the last straw for people on fixed incomes, unfairly pushing them out of town.
Barbara Mailey, 72, has lived in Hamilton for 12 years and has seen her property taxes double. She retired from her job with Allied Movers in Beverly three years ago, and voted against the override, which she estimates would add about $800 to her tax bill next year.
"It would do a 'little' damage on my real estate tax," she said sarcastically. "I could use a little breather."
School Committee members blamed the need for the large override on decreased state aid. School officials expect to receive $1 million less from the state in next year's budget.
Although their defeated $20.2 million budget reflected a 6 percent increase over last year, Hamilton's share would have increased by about 15 percent this year, while Wenham's share would have jumped nearly 18 percent.
Lyman Stookey of the Hamilton Finance Committee, who supported the override, called the result "terrible."
"I think it means there are significant numbers of voters who feel we've reached the limit on taxation," he said. "I don't think it's a judgment on the school's program. I believe people do not understand the school program."
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The Patriot Ledger
Wednesday, May 14, 2003
Randolph voters in no mood for overrides:
Officials scramble to balance budget; warn of deep cuts
By Fred Hanson
By lopsided majorities, voters in yesterday's special election turned down a series of Proposition 2½ overrides that would have added hundreds of dollars to the annual tax bill of the average home owner.
In the four-part "pyramid question," the higher the amount of the proposed override, the lower the support it received.
The override proposal that came the closest to passage was the one seeking $2.5 million for schools and town government, which captured 38 percent of the vote.
The proposal with the least support was for a $5.2 million override, which had the support of 22 percent of the voters.
The results disappointed supporters who campaigned in favor of an override, saying it was needed to maintain current municipal services due to cuts in state aid and other financial problems. The vote also has town officials scrambling to make the cuts needed to present a balanced budget to town meeting when it reconvenes on June 16.
"Now we are looking forward to the people who voted no to come forward with creative solutions to the town's budget crisis," said Suzanne
Choumitsky, co-chairman of the "Yes for Randolph Committee".
"I'm looking forward to see how they solve $5.2 million worth of problems without $5.2 million," she said. "I think people don't want to pay more taxes. They don't trust government and they don't want to pay for it."
School committee member Edward Gilbert said residents don't think budget cuts will hurt town services.
"The cuts are going to be devastating, the cuts are going to be deep, and it's going to hurt," Gilbert said. "The effect is going to be far-reaching and its going to affect the entire town."
The finance committee has estimated a deficit of up to $5.2 million from a budget of $63.6 million with a 20 percent cut in state aid.
Finance committee Chairman Paul Fernandes said that due to fixed costs, such as debt service and pensions, town departments may see their budgets cut between 8 and 10 percent in order to recommend a balanced budget to town meeting.
In addition, town departments and the schools would have to absorb the cost of more than $1 million in employee pay raises.
Fernandes said he would distribute a letter today to all elected town officials inviting them to next Tuesday's finance committee meeting "to discuss where we go from here."
"We'll reconsider every financial article. We'll make the recommendations. Then it's up to town meeting," Fernandes said.
There was no organized opposition to the overrides, with the exception to the board of health and its recycling committee committee coming out against a $2.5 million override that would have covered the town's cost of the town's refuse and recycling pickups and disposal.
They said the override would block plans to add a "pay-as-you-throw" trash fee, which would be in addition to the present $100 per household trash fee. The board and the recycling committee feel the per-bag charge would encourage recycling and ultimately reduce trash disposal costs.
Selectmen have said they would try to repeal the $100 per household trash fee if the trash override passed.
The Yes for Randolph Committee spent $4,400 on its campaign, said treasurer Kathy
Haire. The money was spent on ads, leaflet drops, and signs.
While they weren't really surprised by the outcome, the margin was larger than what many town officials expected. They think override proponents lacked the solid information on how much money was needed and what the consequences would be without an override.
"There were a lot of unknowns, and when people are unsure and you can't give them a good answer, they're going to vote no," said Selectman Stephen Toomey.
Added Fernandes, "People are not convinced they need to spend all this money to keep the services."
The assessors estimated each $1 million approved in an override would add 50 cents to the residential tax rate. For the owner of a home with an assessed value of $200,000, this would mean a $5.2 million override would add $520 to the annual tax bill and a $2.5 million override would add $250.
Gilbert said that more town officials needed to show support for the override.
"It was an issue that needed the support of leadership, and it clearly didn't have it," Gilbert said.
At last week's selectmen's meeting, Gilbert asked the board to take a position on the override. The board declined to take a position, with only Toomey speaking in support.
The lone forum on the need for an override was organized by the school committee.
Selectman Dan Lam said he thinks there may enough support to win approval for a smaller override later this year.
"People are willing to pay something that is reasonable, providing that they know how the town is going to use the money and the town shows it is willing to save and cut," he said.
Lam doesn't think the town can close the deficit by cuts alone.
Since Proposition 2½ was approved by voters in a 1980 state referendum, Randolph has never approved an override to fund operating budgets. In 1997, voters approved temporary overrides known as debt exclusions to fund the Randolph Community Middle School project and other items.
Nearly 36 percent of the town's 16,222 registered voters cast ballots in yesterday's special election, in line with the prediction made by Town Clerk Brian Howard.
Voters in Precinct 3 also voted on a new state representative for the 5th Norfolk District, favoring the winning Democrat Joseph Driscoll over Republican Matthew Sisk by a vote of 403-322.
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The Patriot Ledger
Wednesday, May 14, 2003
2 Braintree requests rejected, putting town in cutting mode
By Jeffrey White
BRAINTREE - Two proposed overrides of Proposition 2½ totaling $16 million failed at the polls yesterday, leaving officials to deal with a budget they say promises to cripple town programs and services next fiscal year.
Voters rejected a proposed $13.9 million debt exclusion override, 5,621-5,440. They defeated a proposed $2.1 million general override by a much wider margin, 6,064-5,023.
The special election drew 22,323 of Braintree's 33,513 registered voters, a 66.6 percent voter turnout and one of the largest in town history.
The result could prove a litmus test for state lawmakers wondering whether Massachusetts taxpayers would accept the tax increases some say are needed to prevent budget cuts. Gov. Mitt Romney has insisted they would not.
The debt exclusion override would have been a temporary tax increase, while the general override would have raised property taxes permanently. The owner of a home assessed at $300,000 would have paid an extra $252 in property taxes had both measures passed.
The failure of both overrides leaves the town facing a $6.7 million budget deficit for the fiscal year that begins July 1. The board of selectmen will meet tonight to begin recommending budget cuts that, up till now, they have only referred to as "worse case" scenarios.
In the offing, according to town officials, are reductions of 100 teachers and other school staff, 14 firefighters and nine police officers. Two fire stations could close, and both the police and fire departments might have to resort to picking the calls they respond to, giving priority to emergencies. The public works department, which stands to lose five workers, could shut off 1,341 of the 4,258 streetlights in town.
Selectmen are likely to impose a $130 annual trash fee.
Officials say they will have a fiscal 2004 budget reflecting $6.7 million worth of cuts ready on Monday, when town meeting continues.
"The voters have spoken," said Robert Kimball, the chairman of the finance committee, in a telephone interview last night. "The town will have to go forward on the wishes of the voters."
More than one-third of the town's $6.7 million shortfall comes from an expected $2.4 million reduction in state aid.
The school department is on the block for the most significant reduction of programs and services.
Superintendent Peter Kurzberg had said that if both overrides failed, he would have to eliminate 75 teaching and 23 staff positions throughout the school system. The Monatiquot and Eldridge schools would close. Class sizes would jump to an average of 20 to 25 students, while middle and high school classes would be 25 to 35 students.
Among other cuts, the elementary after-school program for the gifted would end, and high school students would have an extra study hall period.
If the $13.9 million debt exclusion had passed, $1.7 million would have gone to the school department, potentially saving 37 teaching positions. Had the $2.1 million general override passed, another $1.3 million would have gone to the school department, saving another 24 teaching jobs.
But the overrides promised to bail out more than just the school department. If both measures had passed, three police officers and nine firefighters' jobs would have been saved.
In a town that has never passed a Proposition 2½ override, supporters of the measures realized they had an uphill battle.
"We're hugely disappointed," said Joseph Hubbard, who was active in the pro-override group Save Braintree. But, he said, there is an "underlying feeling in town that there is a tremendous amount of waste in town government."
That was, in part, the position of Matt Sisk, the Republican candidate who lost to former Selectman Joseph Driscoll yesterday in the race for state representative.
The override issue polarized the two candidates. Driscoll supported both measures and Sisk opposed them, saying that town officials had not exhausted enough other options for closing the budget gap.
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The Brockton Enterprise
Thursday, May 15, 2003
Tax increase idea receiving cool reception in Taunton
By Terence J. Downing, Enterprise staff writer
The idea of a tax increase to bail out the city budget is getting a cold shoulder from City Council President Jason D. Buffington and others.
Some city unions have floated the idea of a temporary tax hike in the form of a debt exclusion to help close a $6 million shortfall and avoid layoffs, but the proposal is getting a thumbs down.
"How can we go to the voters to increase taxes when we haven't yet demonstrated that the potential solutions that have been put forth are unworkable?" said Buffington.
Councilor Peter H. Corr agreed.
"We haven't exhausted all our available options," said Corr.
"I'm not in favor of putting anything on the ballot that would raise taxes right now," said
Corr.
Mayor Ted Strojny said he is not advocating a tax hike, but said it is a possible option that may have to be considered by the council as the city grapples with a budget crisis.
"I'm absolutely not in favor of any tax increase and I'm not wavering," Councilor Charles Crowley said Wednesday.
"We just can't keep going back to the taxpayers. The average person that I'm hearing from out there wants to know what they are getting for the taxes they are already paying. Our roads are absolutely horrible and when you call the police they may not come right away," said Crowley.
"We have to live within our means and we can't just continue spending. That means cuts are most likely," said Crowley.
Councilor Debra A. Botellio is against a tax hike.
"We have other options that we need to look at," said Botellio. "I think it's totally unfair to put any extra burden on the taxpayers now. People are going though hard times, and we have to find the funds elsewhere."
Botellio said taxpayers will be up in arms next year when they see their property tax bills increasing due to revaluation.
"People are going to get hit pretty hard under revaluation," said
Botellio.
A debt exclusion is a temporary tax hike to raise funds for debt service costs, such as while a community is paying off a loan or bond for a new project such as a new school.
The additional taxes are paid only for the duration of the specific loan and once the bond is paid off, the tax rate goes down. It would require majority voter approval.
A debt exclusion differs from a Proposition 21/2 override, which raises property taxes permanently.
The idea being considered is using the tax hike to pay the city's debt for schools that have been constructed in recent years.
Voters would have to approve placing the capital projects outside of the 21/2 percent levy limit.
Buffington rejects the idea of a tax hike and said it is not even being considered by the council right now.
"The City Council has proposed a series of options to the mayor that will certainly go a long way toward bringing the budget into balance," said Buffington.
"If in the end the mayor tells us that the only way to avoid devastating cuts in city services is to put a question on the ballot, then I think many city councilors would be agreeable to let the voters decide," said Buffington.
"Just because the City Council may choose to put the question on the ballot doesn't mean we support it," said Buffington.
"I reiterate, it's a last resort option and I think we are a long way from even considering that," said Buffington.
Councilor Thomas C. Hoye Jr. said the city could save money by looking into pension obligation bonds.
Councilor Kevin C. Martin said he is not in favor of a tax increase, but he would not oppose putting the question on the ballot.
"I would let the voters decide and if they approve it, so be it," said Martin. "I'm not in favor of raising taxes, but I will not deny people the right to vote on it."
Buffington said the mayor would have to present the council with clear and convincing evidence that all other options cannot work.
Buffington said a proposed restructuring of the employee health insurance from Blue Cross Blue Shield Master Health Plus to the lower cost HMO Blue is a promising option that could save several million dollars.
"There are so many other options," said Buffington.
Buffington said it may even be too late for a debt exclusion for school construction debt.
"We're already paying off the bonds," said Buffington.
"Perhaps it would have been a more prudent thing to look at it when we were considering how to fund the schools," said Buffington.
"Maybe we should have considered putting it on the ballot at that time and let the voters decide if they were willing to pay more taxes to fund our schools. Now it's too late," said Buffington.
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The Brockton Enterprise
Thursday, May 15, 2003
Override tab for 'average' home might reach $800 in Pembroke
By Mary Salters, Enterprise correspondent
Proposition 2½ overrides could cost the average Pembroke homeowner more than $700 a year, a report from the town treasurer indicates.
When town department heads meet today, they will read a report from the town treasurer who calculates that the average taxpayer will be paying an additional $810.12 a year to cover the cost of school construction and the $1.7 million override on June 21 at a special election, if passed by the voters.
The figures were released by Town Treasurer-Collector Linda Robbins Porazzo on Wednesday. She outlined the projects and costs so selectmen and department heads will know what the exact impact will be on taxpayers in time for two forums to take place May 28 and June 11, as well as today's morning meeting.
But these figures are still being fine-tuned by not only Porazzo but by assessors and the town accountant, said Chief Assessor-Appraiser Maureen O'Connor.
She said the two figures from Porazzo and Town Accountant Michael Buckley are not that far apart. The final figures and the exact cost to taxpayers of all of the school debt exclusions the plus proposed override will be nailed down by May 28, when the selectmen will hold the first of two public forums.
Selectmen have vowed that before the vote takes place June 21 at the special election, voters will know future costs and the impact of either passage or defeat of the override question.
Under Proposition 2½, an operational override is a permanent increase in the levy limit. A debt exclusion override is a temporary increase in the levy limit for specific purposes.
O'Connor said using figures developed by Michael Buckley, Pembroke taxpayers in 2005 with a median house assessed at $300,000 will pay $726 a year more in taxes. That taxpayer is currently paying $3,730 a year in real estate taxes.
Buckley breaks it down this way: in 2005, the cost for the $1.7 million operational override will be $276. Add to this another $450 for the debt exclusion for the reconstruction of the schools, which comes to a total of $726.
In 2006, the debt exclusion and projected override will cost $786 a year in addition to the current annual tax bill of $3,730.
That $786 figure breaks down to $507 for the debt exclusion and $279 for the $1.7 million override.
O'Connor said voters need to keep in mind that these increases do not include the routine annual budget increases the town is allowed when it raises its levy limit by 21/2 percent a year.
Plus, said O'Connor, it does not count increased assessed value on that house assessed today at $300,000.
School Committee member Joel Sugarman said what residents should keep in mind is that the debt exclusion for the bond debt of $97 million in school construction projects will decline as state reimbursements kicks in and as the bonds get paid off over 25 years.
Also, Sugarman said, the $786 increase does not apply to residents who live in homes assessed lower than $300,000, where the impact will be less.
Sugarman also said the override coming up for the operational expenses includes general government as well as the schools. The override asks voters to approve raising an additional $1.7 million for operating costs. If it is approved it will save jobs at the police and fire departments and at the offices of the town clerk, assessors, treasurer and collector and the Department of Public Works.
Of the $1.7 million override, 65 percent is earmarked for the schools and 35 percent for general government.
School Committee member Virginia Wandell said the debt exclusion will decrease over time. She said the operational override is a good thing because it allows local control to pay for town wide services.
"This $1.7 million override is for the entire town. It affects every corner of the town. Shame on us if we vote to diminish police, fire and Town Hall services. This is a vote to retain the character of our town. If it fails, people should know it will devastate the town. It could close the Hobomock School and the Community Center and cause layoffs of 46 school employees,'' said
Wandell.
Porazzo and O'Connor outlined all of the projects on the town books under debt exclusions that will be bonded over the next 25 years. It starts with the Hobomock School, with its balance of $250,000 because the town has been reimbursed under school aid.
The next item is a balance of $31.65 million for the expansion and reconstruction of the North Pembroke and Bryantville Elementary schools. Next on the list is a balance of $11.9 million for the cost to withdraw from Silver Lake. This is what the town paid to Silver Lake to buy back the two secondary schools. And last on the debt exclusion list is a balance of $53.9 million to pay for the renovation and expansion of the Pembroke Middle School and Pembroke High School.
Porazzo said the town is doing so much borrowing on short term that she will have to pay $1.5 million in interest between now and August.
O'Connor said she became quietly alarmed over the past several years when debt exclusion votes for five schools went before the voters edging up to the $100 million mark. She worried that the town may have been taking on too much debt.
The debt exclusions for $97 million in school building projects, coupled with the operation override, is hitting residents here all at the same time.
Out of this $98 million total debt the town owes, water projects come to $2.78 million which will be paid out of water revenues by water customers.
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The Boston Herald
Thursday, May 15, 2003
For gov, a moral victory in Braintree
by Wayne Woodlief
This is one time, just as in horseshoes, where coming close really counts.
Score one for Gov. Mitt Romney's coattails, reform agenda and no-new-taxes message in a special state rep election and a Proposition
2½ override vote in Braintree on Tuesday.
The GOP formula of Romney's personal intercession and a newly-aggressive Republican State Committee worked even if the young candidate, a heavy underdog, did lose a squeaker. So the Democrats now must brace for something they haven't seen for years: A whole host of legislative challenges in 2004. And they surely received a scary message: Try to revive a tax increase this fall at your peril.
The Prop 2½ override, aimed at allowing a property tax increase and frowned on by the governor, lost Tuesday. And though Democrat Joe Driscoll beat Republican Matt Sisk in the House race, it was about as Pyrrhic a victory as it gets, with heavy casualties and future forebodings for the
Dems.
Sisk, a 24-year-old political novice who got blindsided by a plagiarism revelation on the campaign's final weekend, still came within 4 percentage points of Driscoll, losing by just 436 out of more than 10,000 votes cast. And that's in a town where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than 3-1 and where Driscoll is a selectman and ex-aide to popular former Rep. Joe Sullivan.
Romney's personal intervention - signing a fund-raising letter and stumping with Sisk twice, including at a well-covered rally last Friday - and the Republican State Committee's phone banks and mass mailings almost pulled their man over the line.
Said Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom: "For Matt Sisk, a rookie who has never held office, to come as close as he did in a district where Democrats so outnumber Republicans is a shot in the arm for our party and a wake-up call to anti-reformers."
The Democrats were crowing over Driscoll's win. But even their remarks hinted of Romney's influence and their concern over how many Democratic reps may face challengers in 2004:
"The Republicans ran the governor all over the town, they spent about $75,000. Just extrapolate that into the next election," said state AFL-CIO President Robert Haynes, whose troops manned phone banks, transported voters to the polls and worked the precincts for Driscoll.
The Republicans say Haynes overstates the case. They report that about $60,000 was spent on Sisk's behalf, between the $30,000 the candidate's campaign raised and the aid the state party kicked in. But hey, if they've got the Dems worried about how much money they can spend on GOP candidates - a novelty for the
usually-underfunded party - so much the better.
Barbara Anderson, executive director of the tax-fighting Citizens for Limited
Taxation, said, "This is a victory for Mitt because it's got to scare the legislators. There has to be a sense that 'Hey, this could happen to me,' that they actually could lose their seats."
Both Darrell Crate, the new Republican state chairman, and Democratic State Chairman Philip Johnston were bracing yesterday for next year's legislative races.
Crate said, "This was a great showing for our message of reform and no new taxes. It's clear that message is resonating. We will recruit candidates to carry that message in 2004." He said the GOP will be pragmatic and target Democrats in their most vulnerable districts, though he didn't specify where.
That's all right. Democrat Johnston did. "We know Romney targeted this (Braintree-dominated) district because he won it for governor in 2002," said Johnston. "He ran very well from there all the way down to the Cape. They'll be targeting down there."
So that broad swath of Southeastern Massachusetts looms as the battleground of 2004, when Romney will attempt to move closer to a veto-safe margin in at least one house.
"Romney wants to go to war. And we will be prepared," Johnston said. "This (Braintree district election) was a test case. We went head to head with them. They can spin it any way they want. But we won."
That's one way of looking at it. Another is that Romney and his party brought a huge underdog (barely a cypher in early polling) to within a whisker of a seat the GOP hasn't won since 1978. If Mitt can do that in 2003, just imagine what he might achieve in 2004.
Wayne Woodlief is a member of the Boston Herald staff.
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The Boston Globe
Thursday, May 15, 2003
Loss on Bulger can turn into a win for governor
By Rick Klein, Globe Staff
Governor Mitt Romney knows that his bid to oust University of Massachusetts president William M. Bulger is dead on Beacon Hill.
But the way he and his top aides see it, the governor and his fellow Republicans benefit every day that the fight over Bulger's job is waged. With an eye on next fall's legislative elections - and perhaps Romney's own reelection campaign in 2006 - they relish the image of Democratic leaders standing against reform to save the job of a UMass president who is viewed by many members of the public as the consummate insider, political observers say.
"Clearly, he's decided that there are political gains in aligning himself as the white knight who's going to slay that particular dragon," said Peter Enrich, a professor at Northeastern University's law school. "Anyone who knows anything about this knows he's going to lose. It's a matter of painting himself in a role."
Yesterday, by aiming for the elimination of Bulger's job in a special bill that must be considered by the Legislature within 60 days, the governor has put down the clearest marker yet on the issue. Romney is simultaneously forcing lawmakers into an uncomfortable vote and sending a message that he will not back down from his chosen fights, no matter how entrenched or powerful the opposition.
The governor has repeatedly said he does not view the battle for Bulger's job in personal terms. But he has held out the issue as a key test of legislators' commitment to rooting out wasteful spending, and Romney has escalated his confrontation with Bulger by spiking a bond package the UMass president crafted to build dorms at the
UMass-Boston campus.
It's a high-risk strategy, though: Pushing legislators to take a stand on the Bulger issue is likely to stoke the distrust that has begun to emerge between the governor and legislative leaders. State Senator Dianne Wilkerson, who has maintained a good working relationship with the administration while leading the Senate's examination of the restructuring proposals, said that Romney's intense focus on such a narrow issue is unfortunate, given the depth of the state's fiscal woes.
"What it says to me is that this [the governor's effort] is not about reform," said Wilkerson, a Roxbury Democrat. "It seems to have gotten so personal that it's not even rational anymore."
But Romney said yesterday that his approach to reform holds weight with the public. He held up a narrow special election loss by a 24-year-old House candidate Tuesday in Braintree as evidence that those who stand in his way have reason to worry.
"I think it's a wake-up call to those who want to oppose reform," Romney said. "If we can do that in Braintree, with a first-time candidate, then we'll be able to make sure that people who oppose reform face good challengers."
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The Boston Herald
Thursday, May 15, 2003
A Boston Herald editorial
Votes on reforms one way or another
Legislators won't be able to hide behind supporting some reforms in the budget now that Gov. Mitt Romney has unveiled his sweeping government reorganization plans under Article 87 of the state Constitution. Within 60 days or so, voters will know whether, in the midst of a fiscal crisis, the Legislature remains wed to the patronage and power of the status quo.
Conceding that his plan to eliminate the University of Massachusetts president's office has even less than a snowball's chance in hell of passing, Romney filed that measure separately. Now legislators won't be able to claim Romney included a "poison pill" in his plan as an excuse to dump the whole thing.
But there's a lot to be said for having a clear up or down vote on William Bulger's continued tenure. And let's not forget that there is also real money at stake - $14 million that could be devoted to scholarships instead.
There are savings and efficiencies to be had in the rest of Romney's broad reorganization plan, too. While Romney's cabinet actually expands by three secretariats - in contrast with past efforts to dismantle executive branch fiefdoms - his plan sets up sensible lines of authority and clears out much administrative underbrush, eliminating as many as 18 state agencies.
The details of the reorganization plan are enough to make most voters' eyes glaze over - does it really matter all that much if the Department of Veterans' Services reports to the chief of Elder Affairs or Health and Human Services? Apparently to veterans activists it does. And many seemingly minor changes will raise someone's ire.
But state government has grown - irrationally in many cases - in a hodgepodge fashion to meet legislators' and special interest group demands, and of course real needs. It's time to put those real needs first, at a time when every state tax dollar must be spent wisely.
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The Boston Globe
Friday, May 16, 2003
Emergency comes with a bonus
By Frank Phillips, Globe Staff
To House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran, doling out pay increases to his lieutenants is apparently a public emergency.
Yesterday, Finneran, with only five lawmakers present in the House chamber, attached an "emergency preamble" to the controversial bill, which would give him greater authority to give bonus pay to legislators.
To do so, the speaker turned to a provision in the state constitution that eliminates the usual 90-day waiting period between when a bill is enacted and when it takes effect. The constitution provides that a law can be declared an emergency if it is "necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety, or convenience."
Representative Byron Rushing, a Boston Democrat, plans to challenge the move on Monday.
Finneran touched off a storm earlier this year when he began pushing the bill, which would reorganize the House committee structure and repeal the law that requires the governor sign off on any pay increases to lawmakers. The House majority leader, Salvatore
DiMasi, said the emergency preamble is a "convenience" to help the Legislature operate and will allow the immediate creation of the new committee on homeland security. "We are not hiding behind 9/11," DiMasi said, when pressed about the homeland security argument. "We are attending to the public's convenience."
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The Boston Globe
Friday, May 16, 2003
As budgets worsens, spending to increase
By Rick Klein, Globe Staff
Even as the state confronts its worst fiscal crisis since the Great Depression, state spending is poised to increase next year, just like it has every year since 1993, according to an analysis by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.
When total spending is tallied, both the Romney administration and the House would have the state spend about $300 million more than the $22.9 billion it's spending this year. The Senate budget, which is scheduled to be debated and approved later this month, is expected to recommend spending a similarly larger sum, and some senators have even talked about restoring some of the cuts proposed by the House.
Both budgets could leave the state spending more than it takes in next year, despite deep cuts, said Michael J.
Widmer, president of the foundation, a nonpartisan, business-backed group.
"There's a serious risk that we won't be able to meet our obligations," he said. "For all the pain and all the difficult decisions, we've still got a long way to go."
The main culprit for the additional spending is Medicaid, where spiraling health care expenses are expected to cost the state an extra 10 percent in the fiscal year that begins July 1. Costs for Medicaid, the health care program for the poor that alone accounts for a quarter of all state spending, would have skyrocketed further if Governor Mitt Romney and House leaders hadn't tightened the eligibility requirements.
While deep cuts are set for elsewhere in the budget, the governor and House lawmakers have put off some of the toughest decisions by relying heavily on new revenues - mostly in the form of fees - and money from onetime transactions. These financial maneuvers, though sometimes preferable to cuts, could make deeper budget cuts necessary in future years, unless the economy rapidly recovers, Widmer said.
The state faces a gap of as much as $3 billion between expected revenues and the amount of spending that would be needed to maintain current levels of services for the fiscal year. Romney would increase spending by $374 million, or 1.6 percent, and the House would boost the bottom line by $288 million, or 1.3 percent, the taxpayers foundation's analysis found.
Romney's budget proposal has come under fire from independent analysts and legislative leaders since shortly after it was filed in late February. House members in particular have chided the governor for saying he has found $2 billion in "waste and inefficiency," noting that that sum includes significant fee hikes and questionable onetime moves, such as transferring surplus property to the state pension fund, even though fund managers say they are not equipped to manage or sell such property.
But analyses by the taxpayers foundation and other budget observers have revealed similar potential problems in the House budget, which was approved last week. House leaders said their budget would shave state spending by about $300 million next fiscal year, but they did not account for about $337 million in Medicaid spending that was shifted to an off-budget account and $118 million in new hospital relief, according to the foundation.
Earlier this week, Romney's top budget aide, Eric Kriss, documented $300 million in what he described as faulty accounting and unrealistic savings in the House budget.
That doesn't include other apparent oversights in the House budget, such as $9 million in unfunded moving expenses and rent for state agencies that are scheduled to move into the renovated Saltonstall Building in October.
The taxpayers foundation said the House budget is at least $335 million out of balance, and said the shortfall could grow further if some savings assumptions do not materialize. The governor's budget has a built-in gap of about $320 million, Widmer said.
"Both budgets go a long way to closing the budget gap," he said. "But the reality is that neither budget fully closes the gap, and that's probably impossible in one year anyway."
State Representative Peter J. Larkin, assistant vice chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said the House budget is in balance and said the expectations the document is based on are solid.
He said that House lawmakers have extensively cut public health and Medicaid programs and are looking to take a significant chunk from aid to cities and towns for the first time in a decade.
"We think our proposal is sound," said Larkin, Democrat of Pittsfield. "Our proposal is realistic and it is in line with the consensus revenue projections."
Romney's press secretary, Shawn Feddeman, said the administration is confident that its budget is responsibly balanced. If the Legislature were to enact the reforms the governor has suggested, the state would have a balanced budget that avoids taxes and fundamentally changes state government, she said.
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