CLT
UPDATE
Thursday, February 19, 2004
Teachers Union grabs for more,
Legislature for "seniors"
State budget cuts have left Bay State classrooms with an estimated 3 percent fewer teachers this year and larger class sizes in the majority of districts, a survey released yesterday shows.
The report, prepared by the state's two largest teachers' unions and other groups, was released as advocates prepare for the coming budget battle on Beacon Hill.
The Boston Herald
Thursday, February 19, 2004
Unions say classroom crisis may be coming
Where's any mention of teacher pay raises?!?
The decline in state education spending during the last two years is jeopardizing Massachusetts education reform efforts by forcing many districts to cut staff and programs, hike fees and increase class sizes, according to a report released yesterday.
The report, authored by the state's teachers unions and superintendent, school committee and municipal associations, showed that after rising from $1.3 billion in 1993 to $3.3 billion in 2002, Chapter 70 aid fell by $148 million in the past two years.
The Telegram & Gazette
Thursday, February 19, 2004
Education reform being threatened
Report cites state spending cuts
Where's any mention of teacher pay raises?!?
The statewide look at the cuts was compiled by several teacher and administrative groups, including the Massachusetts Teachers Association and the Massachusetts Municipal Association.
The Boston Globe
Thursday, February 19, 2004
Reductions hurt across state, say union and administrators
Where's any mention of teacher pay raises?!?
Winthrop's education leader had hoped that voters would pass a $6 million budget override, close an estimated $850,000 school deficit, and preserve the frame of a school system that long ago was whittled to bones. But on Feb. 9, the override lost. Four days later,
Giancristiano, 55, announced at a School Committee meeting that he will leave in December.
It was a hard moment to watch: A confident, likable, optimist with 30 years of education experience was faced with cutting 17 teaching jobs. He chose instead to cut himself.
Giancristiano's voice was steady, his pique never showing. Only his reddening eyes displayed his anger.
"Either you do not support me, or you do not support your children," he read from his notes. "I would never stay anywhere under those conditions." ...
If the override had passed, the average tax bill in Winthrop would have increased by an estimated $1,152 per year.
The Boston Globe
Thursday, February 19, 2004
Deep cut in school systems taking a toll on educators
For Winthrop leader, it stopped adding up
Where's any mention of teacher pay raises?!?
Boy, those people in Winthrop are just damn selfish, and they like kids about as much as Miss Hannigan of "Annie" fame.
That's what Winthrop Superintendent Thomas Giancristiano's comments amount to, following last week's defeat of a $6 million property tax override....
Did it ever occur to Giancristiano that it's possible Winthrop voters are just plain tapped out?
Override opponents pointed out that the increase would have added $1,800 in property taxes on the average $425,000 single-family home. That's a big chunk of change.
Just because a majority of Winthrop voters said no doesn't mean they're bad people.
It means they think their families need the $6 million more than the schools do. And there's nothing at all wrong with that.
A Boston Herald editorial
Tuesday, February 17, 2004
Pocketbook votes not bad
Teachers are asking for unlimited accumulation of their sick days, over twice as much time off for personal business each year, and a cap on class sizes as negotiations start on a new contract to take effect next school year....
"We're very sensitive to the economic times that the state and city face," said Lawrence Teachers Union President Francis T. McLaughlin. "We're affected by that, so (the pay raise request) is going to be reasonable."
The Eagle-Tribune
Tuesday, February 17, 2004
Teachers seek more days off
Where's any mention of teacher pay raises?!?
At its regular meeting over the weekend, the National Education Association Board of Directors approved two amendments to the by-laws concerning the union’s special fund for ballot measures, legislative crises, and media campaigns. In 2000, delegates to the NEA Representative Assembly approved a $5-per-member temporary dues assessment to establish the fund. Since that time, NEA has used the approximately $12.5 million accrued each year to drop money bombs on various state political battlefields.
One of the two by-laws amendments would make the assessment permanent. The other would gradually increase the assessment by $1 each year until it reached $10 per member in the school year 2009-10. The amendments will require the approval of delegates to the NEA Representative Assembly this July in Washington, DC.
The board also approved a 2004-05 dues level of $137 for teachers ($76.50 for
ESPs), which is an increase of $3 over this year’s dues.
The Education Intelligence Agency
Communiqué – February 17, 2004
NEA Board Seeks to Raise Initiative Fund Assessment
Thousands of Massachusetts seniors would be spared from property tax hikes approved by voters in cities and towns under a bill that moved forward on Beacon Hill yesterday.
Under the measure, cities and towns whose voters override Proposition 2½
would be able to exempt certain seniors from the tax increase. The House gave preliminary approval to the proposal yesterday, but it still must win a final vote in that body and clear the Senate. Governor Mitt Romney has not yet taken a position on it....
Seniors are generally viewed as resistant to Proposition 2½ overrides. Those who live on fixed incomes are heavily burdened by property tax hikes, and those without children or grandchildren in local schools aren't necessarily interested in paying for them. By effectively sidelining seniors, the proposal might make it easier for communities to pass overrides, though other property owners would have to be persuaded to pay more to pick up the slack....
Citizens for Limited Taxation, a group that opposes property tax increases, urged lawmakers to keep their "hands off Prop
2½."
"The intent of this bill is to keep seniors from voting against overrides," said a
statement issued by the group. "Without their help, other taxpayers could lose their battles against higher property taxes and then would have to pay the seniors' share of the higher burden, too."
The Boston Globe
Thursday, February 19, 2004
House advances tax break for elders
Measure targets property levies
Chip Ford's CLT
Commentary
What has happened to overwhelming disdain of the
concept of "Separate but Equal" that dominated last week's
state constitutional convention?
Only a week later, suddenly the "Best
Legislature Money Can Buy" wants to distinguish between classes of
citizens. Under the new proposal, some "seniors" will become
exempt from certain taxation, simply because they are ... senior
citizens with a currently statutorily defined income?
They'd be able to vote the rest of us into financial
oblivion, simply because they are "seniors"?
Already they've voted their decedents into
near-oblivion, considering our cost for their Social Security, Medicare
and the new "Prescription Drug Benefit" programs on the
national stage.
Now state legislators want a property tax exemption
from override votes for them too?
I thought we "Boomers" were supposed to be
the most selfish generation ever ... and they were alleged to be
"The Greatest Generation"?
How soon before this politically-expedient Ponzi
scheme -- like the additional $500 billion "Prescription Drug
Benefit" recently layered upon the near-bankrupt Medicare program
on the federal level -- implodes?
I'll give it all maybe ten years before crisis,
meltdown; but the giveaways in the meantime are propelling incumbent
politicians to reelection as they put
off the inevitable day of reckoning. That interim is closing in
... on them and on everyone else. By then they will be history; we will
remain to suffer their foolishness.
*
*
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What can anyone say about another self-serving
teachers union "study" -- except that, as usual, it's
self-serving as they gear-up for the upcoming FY'05 budget war.
Oh dear me, principals are quitting over taxpayers
standing up against their own insolvency; taxpayers are refusing to be
squeezed any more.
Some teachers are being laid off, but I don't see a
single one quitting. That's because they've been doing real well in
their contract negotiations over the past decade, much more than the
rate of inflation. As the Eagle-Tribune pointed out, if they can't
squeeze us for more of our hard-earned income, they'll simply negotiate
down to work less "for the children." With only "an equitable salary increase"
of course.
The Eagle-Tribune recently published its "Marked
Absent - When teacher's out" exposé revealing that time-off
apparently is the second-most important factor in many teacher's job
criteria ... and, now that their "sick-day" scam has been
exposed, and more taxpayer cash simply is not available, they're
shooting to work less time by contract ... until the revenue spigot
again flows.
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Chip
Ford |
The Boston Herald
Thursday, February 19, 2004
Unions say classroom crisis may be coming
By Kevin Rothstein
State budget cuts have left Bay State classrooms with an estimated 3 percent fewer teachers this year and larger class sizes in the majority of districts, a survey released yesterday shows.
The report, prepared by the state's two largest teachers' unions and other groups, was released as advocates prepare for the coming budget battle on Beacon Hill.
"We're very happy (the governor) has seen fit to increase the education budget but it doesn't come anywhere near restoring the half-billion in cuts that have taken place," said Catherine Boudreau, president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association.
An alliance of education activists behind the report say $527 million in cuts over the past two years to state aid for education and for cities and towns is leading Massachusetts to a classroom crisis.
"We tightened our belts in the good times because of Proposition 2½ , and in the bad times we make disastrous, bad, horrible, no good, very bad cuts," said Paul
Schlichtman, president of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees and an Arlington school board member.
Based on surveys returned by school districts, the study's authors estimate 2,160 teaching positions have been eliminated statewide.
Of 153 districts that gave class size data, 59 percent reported an increase.
The problem seems especially evident in middle-class Braintree, which lost 50 teachers this year.
Some fourth-grade classes have 30 kids. High school computer classes have been cut.
Furthermore, cuts coming at a time of unprecedented state and federal standards is unfair, said Braintree Superintendent Peter
Kurzberg.
"It's fair to say we have taken a giant step backwards in terms of our educational program," he said.
Department of Education spokeswoman Heidi B. Perlman maintained spending on education has gone up in the state, but said, "We share their concerns. We see their cuts have had an impact but we also see things are turning in the right direction."
Dolores Simonetti, mother of three kids in Winthrop's decimated school system, warned that other districts are next unless something is done.
"Other communities' downward spiral has begun. Winthrop is in full force now," she said.
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The Telegram & Gazette
Thursday, February 19, 2004
Education reform being threatened
Report cites state spending cuts
By Clive McFarlane, T&G Staff
The decline in state education spending during the last two years is jeopardizing Massachusetts education reform efforts by forcing many districts to cut staff and programs, hike fees and increase class sizes, according to a report released yesterday.
The report, authored by the state's teachers unions and superintendent, school committee and municipal associations, showed that after rising from $1.3 billion in 1993 to $3.3 billion in 2002, Chapter 70 aid fell by $148 million in the past two years.
"Massachusetts' schools made great strides in the decade after passage of the 1993 Education Reform Act," said Frank
Haydu, a business leader who served on the Board of Education when the law was enacted.
"That has been great news for students, families and the economy. Today, we are releasing a report documenting ways in which education spending cuts over the past two years jeopardize that progress," he said, speaking at a press conference in Boston.
Overall, the report, "Progress in Jeopardy: A Report on the State of Education Funding in Massachusetts," showed that over the past two years, the state has reduced spending on public schools and local aid by $527 million.
While some communities were able to cushion the blow to schools through use of reserves or local property tax increases, others were not, the report said.
A survey of 187 school districts, for example, showed a cumulative loss of about 1,400 teachers in the past two years in those districts.
With the 187 districts representing about two-thirds of the state's teaching force, the report noted that a similar rate of staff reduction across the state would mean an overall loss of 2,160 teachers, or 2.8 percent of the teaching force over that period.
Of the 153 districts that provided data on class sizes, three out of five reported larger average class sizes than in the previous years.
The elimination of high school electives, elementary art and after-school tutoring, and charging fees for full-day kindergarten programs, athletics and busing are some of the other ways in which school districts have been responding to the decline in revenues.
Worcester, one of several districts profiled in the report, among other things, closed three elementary schools and eliminated a middle school program last year - and reduced spending on staff development by 70 percent, and spending on instructional supplies by 68 percent over the past two years.
Fitchburg, a district that is "under review" by the state because of low student MCAS scores, has increased class sizes by about three students per grade, while reducing guidance services, middle school art, full-day kindergarten classes and high school extracurricular activities over the same period.
But despite these cuts in services, Roberta S. Schaefer, a member of the state's Board of Education, said it is difficult to assess the impact of the funding cuts on students' ability to achieve the state's academic standards.
She noted, for example, that recent MCAS results indicate that more students are passing the exams the first time around than in earlier sittings.
"What are we supposed to make of that?" she asked.
"We all know the importance of adequate funding and we are trying to keep up the effort to meet that need," she said.
Ms. Schaefer pointed out, for example, that Gov. Mitt Romney's proposed budget for next year increases education spending.
Stephen E. Mills, deputy superintendent of the Worcester public schools, said the increases in the governor's budget will not prevent the district from making cuts next year.
Worcester, he said, is projecting a more than $5 million deficit under the governor's budget proposal.
"We have worked hard over the past 10 years to spend money prudently, and we have had good results. We have improved academically, our dropout rate is down and our attendance rate is up," Mr. Mills said.
"But we have been peeling back to the bare bones over the past two years, and the unfortunate reality is that we still have all the state mandates and all the accountability requirements with literally less resources than we started with years ago."
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The Boston Globe
Thursday, February 19, 2004
Reductions hurt across state, say union and administrators
By Megan Tench, Globe Staff
About 1,400 teachers have lost their jobs, class sizes have grown so large that they're hard to control, and some students are paying high fees for sports, activities, and transportation.
Those are the effects of the state's $527 million cut to local aid during the past two years, and a portion of that cut affected education, according to a state teachers union report released yesterday. The cuts are chipping away at the progress the state's schools have made since the Education Reform Act of 1993, the report contends.
The authors of the report said they did not have a figure for education cuts during the past two years.
News reports have indicated that the state cut basic education aid last year by $150 million for local school districts and also reduced MCAS preparation funds from $50 million to $10 million. This year, Governor Mitt Romney is proposing $72 million in basic education aid, a 2.3 percent increase, and an additional $40 million to create various new programs for school districts.
The statewide look at the cuts was compiled by several teacher and administrative groups, including the Massachusetts Teachers Association and the Massachusetts Municipal Association.
Many school leaders today say they are barely coping with last year's budget crisis and are girding for next year's cuts. Some question whether it's possible to give their students a basic education. "We are not able to provide the same quality of education to our students," said Superintendent Peter A. Kurzberg of Braintree. "We have taken a giant step backwards." Facing a $2 million budget shortfall this year, Kurzberg was forced to lay off 56 teachers, charge student activity and transportation fees, and reduce spending on textbooks. With dwindling resources, he said, it is unrealistic to expect students to meet the higher standards outlined under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
State education officials yesterday argued that that the report focuses on too short a time span. While local aid has been reduced over the two-year period, overall education spending has increased by 6.7 percent, the officials said. The spending increase, however, comes from a variety of sources, including municipal reserve funds and overrides of Proposition
2½ tax limits.
"We certainly share their concerns and recognize that any budget cut hits a school district very hard," said Heidi B.
Perlman, spokeswoman for the Department of Education. "It is somewhat unfortunate that the couple of years they chose to analyze were the two most difficult financial years the state has faced in a very long time. Every agency faced a hit, the economy really tanked, and everyone felt the crunch." Still, those on the front lines say, the reductions undercut their mission.At the Gill-Montague Regional School District, 19 teachers were let go, and the district was forced to combine grades in the elementary schools. For example, first and second grade is held in one classroom with one teacher, and the same goes for third and fourth grades. Some students now spend free periods running errands for teachers. The report was released a month before the Supreme Judicial Court is expected to rule on whether the state is adequately funding K-12 education, even after 10 years of increased education spending.
Researchers surveyed school superintendents statewide about the impact of the budget cuts in their districts. There were responses from 187 superintendents, a little more than half of the state's school districts.
The school districts that responded reported eliminating 1,400 teaching jobs during the past two years.
In addition, 153 districts reported average class size data. Of those, 59 percent said class sizes have increased, 18 percent said classes have decreased, and 24 percent said the sizes have remained the same. Many school districts, including Boston, Springfield, and Haverhill, also reported closing schools, cutting programs such as tutoring for the MCAS exam, and raising fees.
In Arlington, the full-day kindergarten charge rose from $500 last school year to $1,500 this year.
"Our children deserve better," said Paul Schlichtman, who heads the Massachusetts Association of School Committees and serves on the Arlington board. But Perlman said there are signs of a turnaround. The governor has proposed no education cuts in his state budget package, keeping funding level. "At a time when the state is still facing a difficult economy, level funding is not bad," Perlman said. "The governor made difficult decisions crafting his budget, but he has made clear education is a priority."
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The Boston Globe
Thursday, February 19, 2004
Deep cut in school systems taking a toll on educators
For Winthrop leader, it stopped adding up
By Suzanne Sataline, Globe Correspondent
WINTHROP -- On good nights, the superintendent fretted. On the bad nights, sleep vanished. Hours before dawn, thoughts of dollars and cents reeled in his head. Thomas Giancristiano would lie in bed in his Peabody home, eyes open and red, and make deals with the school finance devil.
How many custodians do we need? the Winthrop superintendent would ask. How many secretaries? If we keep the libraries closed, can we keep one more kindergarten teacher?
Winthrop's education leader had hoped that voters would pass a $6 million budget override, close an estimated $850,000 school deficit, and preserve the frame of a school system that long ago was whittled to bones. But on Feb. 9, the override lost. Four days later,
Giancristiano, 55, announced at a School Committee meeting that he will leave in December.
It was a hard moment to watch: A confident, likable, optimist with 30 years of education experience was faced with cutting 17 teaching jobs. He chose instead to cut himself.
Giancristiano's voice was steady, his pique never showing. Only his reddening eyes displayed his anger.
"Either you do not support me, or you do not support your children," he read from his notes. "I would never stay anywhere under those conditions."
In the audience, Eileen Hegarty, a Winthrop parent who worked for the override vote, saw a man's insides torn up.
"He felt because he wasn't able to be part of the resolution, he felt he must be part of the problem," Hegarty said. "To see such a dignified, respected man reduced to tears was absolutely
heartwrenching."
Those who know Giancristiano say they were not surprised by his choice, because it is emblematic of the state of school leadership. The state has 25 superintendent vacancies, a number expected to balloon to 50 next year, said Glenn
Koocher, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees. The exodus is fueled by attractive retirement offers, as well as the stress of trying to fulfill more government mandates with less state money, he said.
"Superintendents are talking about getting out and they're counting the months," Koocher said.
Giancristiano arrived in Winthrop eight years ago, a 20-year veteran of Boston's public schools. When he was principal at Winthrop Middle School, Giancristiano shrugged it off when the administration cut his assistant's job. The cuts continued as he rose to superintendent four years ago.
A big part of Winthrop's aversion to spending money is rooted in the town's history. It is a bedroom community that, for years, received millions of dollars from the state during the massive and inconvenient construction of a waste water treatment plant. During that time, town administrators spent the minimum per-student amount set by the state, said Lester
Towlson, the school finance director. Now that the state aid is gone, taxpayers are balking at the large increases necessary to run the system. If the override had passed, the average tax bill in Winthrop would have increased by an estimated $1,152 per year.
Giancristiano responded by slashing programs and personnel. He has eliminated librarians, foreign language teachers, teachers in grades kindergarten through four, a program for the gifted, music theory, home economics, remedial reading, business education, programs for at-risk youths, curriculum coordinators, secretaries, nurses, and crossing guards. In all, he cut 22.5 positions last school year.
The libraries are shuttered at each of the town's four schools. Step into the school district headquarters, and you can walk down a corridor without seeing a soul.
"Tell me a place in the private sector that has that kind of operating budget [of $14 million] that's run by two people and a secretary," said a frustrated Peter Finn, Winthrop's former school superintendent. Giancristiano "became a lightning rod for people who are frustrated."
The ire continues in town, now that Giancristiano and the School Committee say the next thing to go is sports. Residents are objecting, but Giancristiano says he has no choice.
"On one hand, they're absolutely invaluable," he said in an interview this week. "On the other hand, to keep that, do you keep the teachers, cut the sports, and hope the community will rally to fund-raise for sports?"
In recent years, friends and colleagues have watched the job take its toll on the superintendent. Giancristiano looked wan and haggard.
He acknowledges he hasn't slept well in a long time. "He doesn't smile as much as he used to," said his wife of 11 years, Mary Watson.
Neither he nor his wife, Northeastern University's dean of the School of Health Professions, say they know what he'll do next. For now, it's reading literature.
The outgoing superintendent says he will not return to education, although he laughs and says he's too old to never say never.
"My intent at this point is to leave education," Giancristiano said. "At some point, you have to say, 'How much of this can I take?'"
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The Boston Herald
Tuesday, February 17, 2004
A Boston Herald editorial
Pocketbook votes not bad
Boy, those people in Winthrop are just damn selfish, and they like kids about as much as Miss Hannigan of "Annie" fame.
That's what Winthrop Superintendent Thomas Giancristiano's comments amount to, following last week's defeat of a $6 million property tax override.
"It was more important for them to keep the money in their pocket than it was to support their community," Giancristiano said as he announced his resignation. "In good conscience, I can't be superintendent in a town that doesn't value its children."
Proponents of the override argued that defeat would mean layoffs for 17 more teachers and elimination of Winthrop's sports teams.
It lost anyway.
Did it ever occur to Giancristiano that it's possible Winthrop voters are just plain tapped out?
Override opponents pointed out that the increase would have added $1,800 in property taxes on the average $425,000 single-family home. That's a big chunk of change.
Just because a majority of Winthrop voters said no doesn't mean they're bad people.
It means they think their families need the $6 million more than the schools do. And there's nothing at all wrong with that.
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The Eagle-Tribune
Tuesday, February 17, 2004
Teachers seek more days off
By Shawn Boburg, Staff Writer
LAWRENCE -- Teachers are asking for unlimited accumulation of their sick days, over twice as much time off for personal business each year, and a cap on class sizes as negotiations start on a new contract to take effect next school year.
School union officials crafted a preliminary proposal to use as a "starting point" in the negotiations with the School Committee, which began last week and are expected to stretch through the school year. The proposal, distributed to all of the district's approximately 1,100 teachers, does not specify the pay raise the union is seeking and calls only for "an equitable salary increase" to be decided later in the bargaining process after state aid figures are available.
But like several other local teachers unions renegotiating contracts this year -- Andover, North Andover, Greater Lawrence Technical High School, and Haverhill included -- Lawrence teachers are aware they could be victims of the painful half of the economic cycle if money continues to be tight.
"We're very sensitive to the economic times that the state and city face," said Lawrence Teachers Union President Francis T. McLaughlin. "We're affected by that, so (the pay raise request) is going to be reasonable."
With pay increases off the table for now, the union is focusing on issues of teacher leaves of absence, student discipline, the method by which teachers are promoted, maximum class sizes, and greater incentives for teachers to continue their education.
Here are the proposal's highlights:
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Remove the 200-day cap on accumulated sick leave, making it unlimited, and pay teachers with more than 10 years in the district for 50 percent of their accumulated sick leave upon retirement or resignation. Teachers currently earn 15 sick days per year.
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Increase the annual number of personal days -- days off for essential, personal business -- from two to five, and allow teachers to leave the school building during unassigned periods for personal business.
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Create a personnel committee to be in charge of teacher promotions and transfers. The five-member committee would have a school principal, a nonunion member appointed by the principal, and three teachers elected by the school faculty. A majority vote, with the principal in the majority, would decide who receives promotions. When a principal is in the minority, the superintendent makes the final decision. The superintendent also has the right to veto a personnel committee decision "for good cause."
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Increase yearly reimbursement for teachers who take graduate courses from $400 to $1,200, and strip a requirement that teachers must earn a grade of a B or higher in courses to qualify for reimbursement.
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Add three columns to the pay schedule, which offers incremental salary increases for teachers who continue their education. There are already pay increases for teachers who earn a master's degree and up to 60 postgraduate credits. The proposal seeks to tack on $1,000 to $3,000 more in incentive pay for teachers who earn 75 to 105 additional postgraduate credits.
The negotiating of contracts is expected to be tougher this year than ever before, given dismal state aid projections and increasing expectations from the state and federal government.
"Contract negotiations statewide are becoming more contentious as it becomes harder for districts to reconcile the number of mandates, a restricted tax base, and limited state aid," said Glenn S.
Koocher, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees. "This is as hard as it's been in 30 years."
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The Boston Globe
Thursday, February 19, 2004
House advances tax break for elders
Measure targets property levies
By Scott S. Greenberger, Globe Staff
Thousands of Massachusetts seniors would be spared from property tax hikes approved by voters in cities and towns under a bill that moved forward on Beacon Hill yesterday.
Under the measure, cities and towns whose voters override Proposition 2½
would be able to exempt certain seniors from the tax increase. The House gave preliminary approval to the proposal yesterday, but it still must win a final vote in that body and clear the Senate. Governor Mitt Romney has not yet taken a position on it.
The bill, which Acting Governor Jane Swift vetoed two years ago, would apply to senior citizens who currently qualify for tax credits under the state's so-called circuit breaker provision, which is designed to cushion older people on fixed incomes from rapidly rising real estate taxes.
Under that two-year-old law, seniors who have annual incomes of less than $43,000 and who own residences worth $432,000 or less can qualify for credits of up to $810 on their state income taxes. About 12,000 people received a total of $32 million in credits last year, the state Department of Revenue said.
Under the bill, cities and towns could also develop different eligibility criteria, as long as the income thresholds don't exceed those in the circuit breaker provision.
Under Proposition 2½, a community's total revenues from property taxes cannot increase more than 2.5 percent from year to year, excluding new construction. However, state aid cuts have led cities and towns to ask voters to override the limit.
According to a recent report by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, 39 communities voted to override the annual property tax limit in 2003, approving a total of $48 million in new revenue. That amount is twice as much as what was adopted in 2002 and more than six times the average between 1994 and 2000.
"This probably makes sense, as long as it's local option, as another way of dealing with the need for property tax increases with cuts in state aid," said Michael J.
Widmer, the foundation's president. "This is a way of saying: 'We may need the override because we need to pay for basic town services. But at the same time we recognize that there are limits, for some seniors in particular."
Seniors are generally viewed as resistant to Proposition 2½ overrides. Those who live on fixed incomes are heavily burdened by property tax hikes, and those without children or grandchildren in local schools aren't necessarily interested in paying for them. By effectively sidelining seniors, the proposal might make it easier for communities to pass overrides, though other property owners would have to be persuaded to pay more to pick up the slack.
House Ways and Means Committee chairman John H. Rogers, a Norwood Democrat, said the bill "seeks to allay the inevitable strife that exists between older taxpayers on fixed or low incomes and younger taxpayers seeking to make capital improvements in their community." "Many of these overrides are for new schools," said Rogers, who expects the House to approve the bill as early as today. "You have a civil war between older citizens and younger citizens with children in the schools."
Citizens for Limited Taxation, a group that opposes property tax increases, urged lawmakers to keep their "hands off Prop
2½."
"The intent of this bill is to keep seniors from voting against overrides," said a
statement issued by the group. "Without their help, other taxpayers could lose their battles against higher property taxes and then would have to pay the seniors' share of the higher burden, too."
Geoff Beckwith of the Massachusetts Municipal Association, which lobbies for cities and towns on Beacon Hill, said his group has not had time to evaluate the proposal. Beckwith said that he isn't sure whether seniors are more likely to oppose overrides, but that there is little doubt that they tend to be hurt by them.
"The property tax is a regressive tax, and people on fixed incomes -- primarily defined as senior citizens, who tend to own homes -- are particularly vulnerable," he said.
In Sudbury, where voters passed a Proposition 2½ override two years ago, residents have already petitioned the Legislature for tax relief for seniors. The request is still pending on Beacon Hill.
Ralph Tyler, a 60-year-old Sudbury resident who has been pushing for the tax break, said the proposal has more to do with the town's economic self-interest that it does with charity.
"We have a continual exodus of seniors," Tyler said. "If we provide a significant incentive, we think we'll retain enough senior citizens that every taxpayer will benefit, because senior citizens don't cost anything for the town."
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