Spencer-East Brookfield voters reject override
By Kim Ring, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFFVoters in Spencer and East Brookfield overwhelmingly turned down an override request that would have funded the Spencer East Brookfield Regional School District budget for fiscal 2014.
Both communities approved the measure at their town meetings, but in the privacy of the ballot box, things were much different, with each town seeing a margin of about two to one or more in opposition.
"I would say that was overwhelming," Spencer Chairman of Selectmen Gary Woodbury said.
The school committee had requested a $2,086,697 override in order to fully fund a $24.7 million fiscal 2014 budget. East Brookfield taxpayers would have been responsible for $405,585 of that amount, with Spencer residents paying $1,681,094.
Now, the school committee has 30 days to set up a district meeting that will allow voters from both towns to vote together on a budget.
That news has local officials concerned because a budget approved at that meeting will not be contingent on an override. That could mean deep cuts for municipal government or the possibility that an override would be needed to maintain services such as police, public works, fire departments and Town Hall operations.
"The voters have spoken four times, twice in each town, and said that the assessments are too much for the taxpayers to handle," Spencer Town Administrator Adam D. Gaudette said after the vote Tuesday night. "I'm hoping the school committee will revisit the assessments, and they may have to make some hard decisions."
In Spencer, passage of the override would have caused the owner of a home valued at $200,000 to pay an additional $340 per year. In East Brookfield, the owner of a $250,000 home would have been assessed about $450 more annually.
Mr. Gaudette said the school committee must schedule a regional meeting for voters in both towns to attend and must propose a budget number for that meeting warrant. Selectmen in the two towns will collaborate to pick a moderator.
If the proposal is not approved at that meeting and the school department budget remains an unresolved issue by Dec. 1, the state will take over the district, Mr. Gaudette explained.
"If that happens, I would hope the state would look closely at these votes and at the towns' budgets," he said. "Because we are very concerned at the town level that we are going to be put in a position where we are forced to shut down major services."
The next school committee meeting is slated for 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Wire Village School auditorium.
My best friend lives in Spencer. From what she said, the older people showed up in large numbers. She knows what we are going through, I told her, "I hope the older people in that town show up at the STM. I would not wish them to be in the spot our town is in, right now". Bev.
ReplyDeleteagain the schools sucking the life out of towns !!there should be a law that there budget can not increase more than 2 percent a year
ReplyDeleteWhat if enrollment goes up 10%?
DeleteHi Bev - Have you approached Rep. Denise Andrews about eliminating this "joint town meeting" scheme? This is really a dishonest way to get around Prop. 2 1/2. If Denise Andrews actually would push something through, I'll vote for her next election even though her views are so different from my own.
ReplyDeleteMs. Andrews, in my opinion, is largely useless. She will not get my vote next time. I attempted to contact her several times via email and telephone. When I finally was contacted back by her "aide", he told me she gets too many emails and deletes them without reading them. If I wished to contact her, I needed to contact the "aide" instead. I do not wish to have someone represent me that is too busy to talk with me.
DeleteHuff - it depends on the classroom size, doesn't it. NRSD is not experiencing a surge in enrollment, and the state projects enrollment to decrease down the road. If it goes down 10%, should we get 10% budget cuts? Ha, not likely.
ReplyDeleteI think the budget should go by enrollment. It should be designed to be flexible, up or down.
DeleteWhy would that work? After all the numbers from the state changed and miller didn't change then to lower Templetons and raise Philipstons. This was after the vote at JTM.
ReplyDeleteTrust but verify. Why didn't our amount go down after they found out the state changed it for the 2 towns in the NRSD.?
Was it or is it legal to charge any amount other than what the state assessments are?
Did Templeton get Screwed over again?
What are the latest amounts from the state,"The truth"
Did the amount for Philipston go down like i heard they did?
I consider myself more of a Libertarian, so I hope no-one takes this comment as a "Republican vs Democrat" thought. Rep. Andrews disappoints me because frankly, she only appears when she feels it is important; when she does appear, she always manages to sneak a little campaigning into the circumstance. Other than that, she's basically unheard of. To get the system changed, it would take a large joint effort by our Representatives & Senators; not an easy task.
ReplyDeleteI know a lifelong educator who says that the 1982 (i think; someone may correct me) law which brought the 2 1/2 override into existence was the death of the education system. Not because the education system was now "regulated" into 2 1/2 %, but because of the economic/social controversy it brought along with it. In an economically challenged town like Templeton, we are starting to see those issues.
Do most of us support the children? of course. Do we support our town(s)? of course. Do we want the best for both? without a doubt. If we do not look to the future, we deny our areas' very well-being. But do we support how it is being done? now that, that is the question.
I hope in the coming months/year, with new school budgets on the line, new town budgets, and the possible regional elementary school, that fiscal responsibility & wise judgement prevail.
This weekend I will write a blog with links to information that may help improve the educational funding system.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ryan that :" To get the system changed, it would take a large joint effort by our Representatives & Senators; not an easy task."
There are methods to petition the government and our senators and representatives for change. We can organize and attend hearings at the Statehouse.
Save the date - October 17th - Hearing on School Finance by the Joint Committee on Education.