Comparable Communities Financial Data

At the special town meeting on Monday a town meeting member asked for comparisons for Milton and similar communities. It seems like a good time to update some data I’ve published a couple of times over the last 3 or 4 years. I’m adding to it a deeper look at community expenditures that I first prepared along with other Warrant Committee members 5 or 6 years ago.

First, what is a comparable community? I’m using a list developed by the School Long Range Planning Committee for inclusion in that document. The communities were selected by an ad hoc group comprised of myself, Treasurer Kevin Sorgi, School Committee Member Mary Kelly, then Warrant Committee member Natalie Monroe and Co-Chair of the School Long Range Planning Committee Greg Hall. We agreed unanimously on the following criteria.

1. That the community have a K-12 public school system.

2. That the town have an EQV within approximately 10% of Milton's (EQV stands for equalized value, and is a financial factor which measures the taxable wealth, or tax base, of a community. It is relied upon by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue to compare communities in Massachusetts).

3. That the median family income be within 10% of Milton's.

4. That the town population be in the range of 15,000 to 35,000.

5. That the K-12 school enrollment be in the range of 2500 to 4500.

Twelve towns closely fit the criteria: Belmont, Westwood, Walpole, Scituate, Sharon, Hingham, Holliston, North Andover, Westborough, Westford, Reading, and Needham.

Here is a series of data comparisons for these communities. The source for this data is the Division of Local Services of the Massachusetts Department of Revenue.


Average Single Family Tax Bill, Rank Order

Town------------------------------------Avg. Single Family Tax Bill

Belmont-------------------------------------$8951
Westwood----------------------------------$7928
Sharon--------------------------------------$7833
Needham-----------------------------------$6907
Westborough------------------------------$6784
Hingham-----------------------------------$6515
Westford-----------------------------------$6415
Milton--------------------------------------$6217
Holliston-----------------------------------$6157
North Andover----------------------------$5896
Reading------------------------------------$5858
Scituate------------------------------------$5182
Walpole------------------------------------$5159


Medium Family Income in Rank Order

Town-----------------------------------Med. Fam. Income

Needham--------------------------------$107,570
Westford---------------------------------$104,092
Westwood-------------------------------$103,242
Sharon-----------------------------------$99,015
Hingham--------------------------------$98,598
Belmont---------------------------------$95,057
Westborough---------------------------$94,610
Milton-----------------------------------$94,359
North Andover-------------------------$91,105
Reading---------------------------------$89,076
Scituate---------------------------------$86,058
Holliston--------------------------------$84,878
Walpole---------------------------------$84,458


Tax As a Percent of Income

Town--------------------------------------% of Income

Belmont--------------------------------------9.4
Sharon----------------------------------------7.9
Westwood-----------------------------------7.7
Holliston-------------------------------------7.3
Westborough--------------------------------7.2
Hingham-------------------------------------6.6
Milton----------------------------------------6.6
Reading--------------------------------------6.6
North Andover------------------------------6.5
Needham-------------------------------------6.4
Westford-------------------------------------6.2
Walpole--------------------------------------6.1
Scituate---------------------------------------6.0


% Non-Residential Assessed Value

Town-----------------------------------------%

Westborough--------------------------------40
Westwood-----------------------------------14.4
Westford------------------------------------13.9
Hingham------------------------------------13.3
Walpole-------------------------------------13.1
Needham-----------------------------------12.7
North Andover----------------------------12.2
Holliston-----------------------------------11.1
Reading-------------------------------------8.6
Sharon---------------------------------------7.8
Belmont-------------------------------------5.8
Scituate--------------------------------------4.4
Milton----------------------------------------3.6

The Municipal Revenue Growth Factor measures the year to year growth in revenues.

Town----------------------------------MGRF Avg/2005-2009

Westborough----------------------------------5.84
North Andover--------------------------------5.40
Hingham---------------------------------------5.33
Westford---------------------------------------5.10
Holliston---------------------------------------5.10
Walpole----------------------------------------4.99
Needham--------------------------------------4.66
Westwood-------------------------------------4.63
Scituate----------------------------------------4.40
Reading----------------------------------------4.30
Milton------------------------------------------4.20
Sharon------------------------------------------4.18
Belmont----------------------------------------3.83


Expenditures for Major Budget Segments As a Percentage of the Budget

Education

Town-----------------------------------------------% Budget

Sharon-----------------------------------------------59.65
Holliston--------------------------------------------58.69
Westford--------------------------------------------53.93
Scituate----------------------------------------------53.87
Westborough----------------------------------------53.25
North Andover-------------------------------------52.56
Belmont---------------------------------------------51.45
Reading---------------------------------------------50.94
Westwood------------------------------------------50.73
Walpole---------------------------------------------49.83
Needham--------------------------------------------49.78
Hingham--------------------------------------------49.31
Milton-----------------------------------------------45.97

Police

Town-----------------------------------------------% Budget

Milton------------------------------------------------8.22
Hingham---------------------------------------------7.06
Scituate----------------------------------------------6.32
Walpole---------------------------------------------6.22
North Andover-------------------------------------6.11
Belmont---------------------------------------------5.45
Sharon-----------------------------------------------5.22
Westwood-------------------------------------------5.18
Reading----------------------------------------------5.16
Westford---------------------------------------------5.08
Needham---------------------------------------------4.78
Holliston---------------------------------------------4.31
Westborough----------------------------------------3.63

Fire

Town-------------------------------------------------% Budget

Scituate------------------------------------------------8.42
North Andover---------------------------------------6.29
Hingham----------------------------------------------6.05
Needham----------------------------------------------6.01
Milton-------------------------------------------------5.99
Belmont-----------------------------------------------5.22
Walpole-----------------------------------------------4.84
Reading-----------------------------------------------4.78
Westwood--------------------------------------------4.35
Westborough-----------------------------------------4.32
Sharon-------------------------------------------------4.09
Westford----------------------------------------------3.02
Holliston----------------------------------------------1.34

Public Works

Town--------------------------------------------------% Budget

Westwood----------------------------------------------6.64
Belmont-------------------------------------------------6.47
Reading-------------------------------------------------6.28
Walpole-------------------------------------------------6.03
Milton---------------------------------------------------5.96
Holliston------------------------------------------------5.96
Hingham------------------------------------------------5.74
North Andover-----------------------------------------5.52
Scituate--------------------------------------------------5.51
Westford------------------------------------------------5.32
Sharon---------------------------------------------------4.72
Westborough-------------------------------------------4.56
Needham------------------------------------------------4.14

Debt Service

Town-----------------------------------------------------% Budget

North Andover-------------------------------------------14.70
Westford--------------------------------------------------13.76
Westborough---------------------------------------------13.47
Sharon-----------------------------------------------------12.89
Holliston--------------------------------------------------12.22
Westwood------------------------------------------------11.46
Reading----------------------------------------------------9.94
Needham---------------------------------------------------8.17
Hingham---------------------------------------------------7.67
Belmont----------------------------------------------------6.51
Milton------------------------------------------------------6.24
Walpole----------------------------------------------------4.19
Scituate-----------------------------------------------------3.33

Fixed Costs

Town------------------------------------------------------% Budget

Walpole----------------------------------------------------17.11
Milton------------------------------------------------------16.77
Needham---------------------------------------------------16.10
Reading-----------------------------------------------------14.94
Scituate------------------------------------------------------14.06
Westborough-----------------------------------------------13.74
Belmont-----------------------------------------------------11.27
Hingham----------------------------------------------------11.19
Westwood--------------------------------------------------11.18
Westford----------------------------------------------------10.43
Holliston-----------------------------------------------------9.90
North Andover----------------------------------------------5.34
Sharon--------------------------------------------------------4.91


A rough approximation of the amount of services provided can be gleaned from expenditures on a per capita basis.

Town--------------------------------------------------Exp. Per Capita

Westwood------------------------------------------------$3882
Westborough---------------------------------------------$3487
Westford--------------------------------------------------$3412
Holliston--------------------------------------------------$3155
Needham--------------------------------------------------$3092
Hingham--------------------------------------------------$2921
Belmont---------------------------------------------------$2912
Sharon-----------------------------------------------------$2909
Reading----------------------------------------------------$2899
Milton------------------------------------------------------$2641
Scituate----------------------------------------------------$2533
Walpole----------------------------------------------------$2512
North Andover--------------------------------------------$2389

So what general conclusions can we draw from this data?

In terms of taxes, we are 8th out of 13 like towns. Statewide we rank 43rd. In 1990 we ranked number 31, in 1995 number 35, in 2000 number 38, and in 2005 number 47. The override of 2006 halted a slide of 16 places in statewide ranking. As a percentage of income, we also rank 8th.

In the value of non-residential real estate subject to taxation we rank last. At 3.6% we are in the bottom 12 or so communities statewide.

In annual revenue growth we rank near the bottom. Without the 2006 override, our 5 year growth would have been under 4% per year, significantly below our peer communities and the state average of 4.92%. Remember, .5% growth amounts to almost $350,000 at our budget level. That’s $1,750,000 over the five year period.

As for how we allocate our budget, we differ substantially from our peers in the following areas.

Education – We spend the lowest percentage on Education, by a significant margin.

Police - We spend the highest percentage on Police, by a significant margin.

Debt –We rank near the bottom on debt payments.

Fixed Costs- We are near the top on this category, which includes benefits, all insurance costs, and pensions costs. At almost 17 percent, it’s a budget buster.

Expenditures – We are hardly a spendthrift community. We rank near the bottom. If we spent the same per capita as the town just above us our budget would be $6,708,000 greater.

I have all this data on a spreadsheet. If anyone wants a copy, shoot me an email.

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Planning Board Master Plan Survey

At the strong urging and under the direction of Planning Board Chair Emily Innes, the Planning Board has taken a first important step toward revising our Master Plan. The citizens of Milton are encouraged to make their views known via a survey. The survey seeks to discover what it is the citizens of Milton want to see the planning process focus on – housing, open space, development, etc..

The survey is ideal for getting input from the greatest number of residents and avoiding overrepresentation of views of special interest groups. It is detailed. The open ended component allows for substantial responses to be developed. It could take a fair amount of your time to do a good job.

Fortunately, the software utilized by SurveyMonkey permits anyone to take the survey over a period of visits, when time allows. As long as you do not click “done” until you are actually done, you may return and work as many times as you wish. Simply click “exit the survey” and when you return you will be brought back to the place you left off.

If the data recapped above and the financial problems we have had in the last decade do not spur you to action, I don’t know what will. Make you opinion count. Tell your town leaders what you want them to do. Channel your frustrations and fears constructively on a matter of real importance to our town’s future.

Here is the website:

http://snipurl.com/cnxu1

You have until the end of March to finish it.