What’s behind Sunderland’s push for a Proposition 21/2 override
The Sunderland town offices on School Street. Recorder Staff/Andy Castillo RECORDER STAFF/ANDY CASTILLO
Recorder Staff
Thursday, April 20, 2017
SUNDERLAND — A Proposition 2½ override question will be on the May 6
election ballot that is proposed as a way to bring in more tax revenue
in preparation for expanding budgets.
“Expense growth is outpacing recurring revenue. There’s no persecutor here, there’s no villain — this is just budgeting. It would be really helpful for the town, looking to the future, if this override passed,” said Selectman Scott Bergeron.
“It would increase the current tax rate by 86 cents,” from $14.34 to $15.20, said Town Administrator Sherry Patch.
Since 1998, rates have decreased overall, going from a high of $17.08 in that year, to a low of $12.08 in 2008. Since then, rates have seen a roughly 50-cent increase every year.
Bergeron called the override a “reset,” noting that just because the town is able to increase taxes to that amount doesn’t mean it will. Currently, the town is able to raise between $140,000 and $160,000 in additional revenue, including property taxes and new growth.
This year’s budget
“Expense growth is outpacing recurring revenue. There’s no persecutor here, there’s no villain — this is just budgeting. It would be really helpful for the town, looking to the future, if this override passed,” said Selectman Scott Bergeron.
“It would increase the current tax rate by 86 cents,” from $14.34 to $15.20, said Town Administrator Sherry Patch.
Since 1998, rates have decreased overall, going from a high of $17.08 in that year, to a low of $12.08 in 2008. Since then, rates have seen a roughly 50-cent increase every year.
Bergeron called the override a “reset,” noting that just because the town is able to increase taxes to that amount doesn’t mean it will. Currently, the town is able to raise between $140,000 and $160,000 in additional revenue, including property taxes and new growth.
This year, the town has
a projected $7,562,987 budget — recommended by the Selectboard Tuesday,
to be voted on at town meeting April 28 — a $284,522 increase from the
$7,278,465 budget approved by residents last year.
Bergeron said the budget has a “$180,000 structural gap” in revenue, reduced to $50,000 by nonrecurring money, Bergeron said.
Driving increases are rising school expenses, up $152,301. Of that, the elementary school’s budget has risen $124,148, with a total operating budget of $2,500,338.
Employee benefit and insurance costs have also increased by $91,279. Of that, $65,369 more in employee medical costs — and the Police Department by $10,771.
With the override — required to raise property taxes above a 2.5 percent yearly limit following passage of a tax-limiting initiative by Massachusetts voters in 1980 — town officials are hoping to expand potential tax revenue by about $300,000 per year, or a little more than $50 per $100,000 in assessed property value.
“The checkbook grows by about 2.5 percent, and then add the value of new growth — Sunderland is pretty static. We don’t have a lot of new construction,” Bergeron said. With that, Elementary School Committee Chair Douglas Fulton noted that “local aid from the state has been a declining percentage of overall funds over the past decade.”
Increasing school costs
Bergeron said the budget has a “$180,000 structural gap” in revenue, reduced to $50,000 by nonrecurring money, Bergeron said.
Driving increases are rising school expenses, up $152,301. Of that, the elementary school’s budget has risen $124,148, with a total operating budget of $2,500,338.
Employee benefit and insurance costs have also increased by $91,279. Of that, $65,369 more in employee medical costs — and the Police Department by $10,771.
With the override — required to raise property taxes above a 2.5 percent yearly limit following passage of a tax-limiting initiative by Massachusetts voters in 1980 — town officials are hoping to expand potential tax revenue by about $300,000 per year, or a little more than $50 per $100,000 in assessed property value.
“The checkbook grows by about 2.5 percent, and then add the value of new growth — Sunderland is pretty static. We don’t have a lot of new construction,” Bergeron said. With that, Elementary School Committee Chair Douglas Fulton noted that “local aid from the state has been a declining percentage of overall funds over the past decade.”
Increasing school costs
The
proposed override, unanimously passed through the Finance Committee, is
intended to counter increasing school costs, which take up about two
thirds of this year’s total projected budget. And those numbers aren’t
expected to come down in coming years.
“We’re educating more kids, and it costs more money to do that,” Fulton said. “Proposition 2½ is a blunt instrument. It’s not a fine-tuned one, as it doesn’t take into account population shifts. That’s why there is an override provision, to make an adjustment. In my opinion, the Selectboard is doing the right thing to meet this head on.”
Over the past eight years, the school has seen a 14 percent increase in students. In the last two years, “the town has brought in about $300,000 in additional tax revenue, funding roughly $400,000 in additional elementary school costs” over that same period, Fulton said. Countering the deficit, town and school officials have been able to level off prospective budgets using money left over from previous years, insurance claims, and other funding sources.
“The elementary school had been using a buffer built up in their incoming school choice funds to keep down requests to the town budget,” Fulton continued, however, that money has almost dried up and there’s no more financial buffer.
This year, Fulton said the school is spending $425,000 from school choice money but only taking in about $350,000. “You can do the math, we’ll come out in the negative and we don’t have a buffer to do that again in future years,” he said.
The future
“We’re educating more kids, and it costs more money to do that,” Fulton said. “Proposition 2½ is a blunt instrument. It’s not a fine-tuned one, as it doesn’t take into account population shifts. That’s why there is an override provision, to make an adjustment. In my opinion, the Selectboard is doing the right thing to meet this head on.”
Over the past eight years, the school has seen a 14 percent increase in students. In the last two years, “the town has brought in about $300,000 in additional tax revenue, funding roughly $400,000 in additional elementary school costs” over that same period, Fulton said. Countering the deficit, town and school officials have been able to level off prospective budgets using money left over from previous years, insurance claims, and other funding sources.
“The elementary school had been using a buffer built up in their incoming school choice funds to keep down requests to the town budget,” Fulton continued, however, that money has almost dried up and there’s no more financial buffer.
This year, Fulton said the school is spending $425,000 from school choice money but only taking in about $350,000. “You can do the math, we’ll come out in the negative and we don’t have a buffer to do that again in future years,” he said.
The future
“We
know we will not have these nonrecurring revenues, we know we have
expense growth; we’ve heard it from the elementary school, we’ve heard
it from Frontier; and it’s not exclusive to education,” Bergeron said.
Thus, with declining state aid, shrinking rainy day funds, more students than ever and rising costs across the board, next year town residents could shoulder even more of the financial burden and have less revenue to pay for it.
If the override fails, school officials will have to make some cuts this year and drastic cuts next year. Bergeron warned of a 2009 repeat, when constituents voted down an override and town officials slashed $790,000 from the total budget, $300,000 from education, the rest coming “right across all the other departments we had control over,” he said.
“I was the chair at that time; I sat in front of a packed room, and we had to make reductions. Cuts were made, people were sent notice of layoffs the next day,” Bergeron said.
“And the double whammy,” Fulton said, “is that after those big cuts to the elementary school, many families decided to choice their kids into other schools, costing the town additional funds and creating a vicious circle. We can’t afford to make that mistake this time.”
Thus, with declining state aid, shrinking rainy day funds, more students than ever and rising costs across the board, next year town residents could shoulder even more of the financial burden and have less revenue to pay for it.
If the override fails, school officials will have to make some cuts this year and drastic cuts next year. Bergeron warned of a 2009 repeat, when constituents voted down an override and town officials slashed $790,000 from the total budget, $300,000 from education, the rest coming “right across all the other departments we had control over,” he said.
“I was the chair at that time; I sat in front of a packed room, and we had to make reductions. Cuts were made, people were sent notice of layoffs the next day,” Bergeron said.
“And the double whammy,” Fulton said, “is that after those big cuts to the elementary school, many families decided to choice their kids into other schools, costing the town additional funds and creating a vicious circle. We can’t afford to make that mistake this time.”
OK, so time for our entire government to get serious.
ReplyDeleteOur government leaders have spent money like drunken sailors on everything from Office supplies, employee benefits, government buildings and law enforcement over the past decades.
Our "leaders" have mismanaged capital projects, dolled out employee benefits that outpaced private sector beni's and increased pay to be competitive with businesses manging similar assets. Christ, how many High School Principles are former gym coaches.
Look at the increase to the TA. What are we saying there? Hey, anyone who took this job at this rate is what? Incompetent, desperate? If we cannot get someone qualified for what we were paying, why did we keep Carter?
The BOS wants a $35,000 slush fund for what?
I think I saw a 15% increase in the Police budget too.
$380,000 school increase
Yet the overall budget for the Capital Planning Committee is $0. I'm just saying, look at how we spend money and you'll see what the Administration values.
“The elementary school had been using a buffer built up in their incoming school choice funds to keep down requests to the town budget,” Fulton continued, however, that money has almost dried up and there’s no more financial buffer.
ReplyDeleteI certainly do not like this. School Choice money is not used as part of the operating budget? That sounds like the taxpayers of a town foot the bill for 100% of the school costs, including non-resident students, and school choice income is put into discretionary spending. In this case, they lament the fact that it must be used to support operations. Sorry, that's what it should be used for. Otherwise, the district is just demanding more money from local taxpayers to support out of district pupils.
Sure sounds like they are doing just that.
DeleteNothing bothers me like when Carter and his group of followers, keep spending money when we are in hock as it is. Do these people run their homes like this ? My husband said I am a perfectionist, but I just want people to use common sense. Is that too much to ask ? Do people want a full time town office building, when there is not enough money to run one ? Do we cut and burn the rest of our departments to accomplish this ? Just maybe we should ask the people what they think. How many people do you think show up at town hall at 7:30 in the morning to do business ? I sure would like a head count. Where is Pete Kasper when you need him ? Bev.
Delete