Why We Need Overrides
On Tuesday, January 20th, Milton residents will
vote for the 7th time on a Proposition 2 ½ override for its
operational budget. Here is the history of prior votes.
Vote Date Amount
Yes Vote No Vote
4/1/89--------------
$596,228-------------- 4415-----------------
3024
4/1/90-----------------$1,997,140--------------4112-----------------3836
6/12/95----------------- $260,000--------------3343-----------------
2852
----------------------------$1,113,219------------3152------------------3030
6/26/01-----------------$1,423,191-------------4237-----------------3002
----------------------------$721,019---------------5119-----------------2882
6/13/06-----------------$2,411,083-------------4768-----------------3712
6/8/09------------------$3,420,189--------------4546-----------------3948
As we approach Election Day, opponents of the override are
making the following arguments (arguments made whenever there is an override in
the offing).
1.
Why can’t
the town live within the 2 ½% increase in revenue it gets each year? After all,
the inflation rate is less than that.
2.
Why don’t we fix the spending problem?
3.
We
wouldn’t need overrides if it weren’t for the schools, which are top heavy and
weighted down with administration costs.
In addressing these arguments I will use data from the
Massachusetts Department of Revenue for a list of Towns comparable to Milton.
For the selection criteria of comparable towns:
Why can’t the town live with a 2 ½ % increase?
The short answer is because certain costs Municipalities
incur rise faster than the inflation rate or the 2 1/2 % increase allowed under
Proposition 2 1/2.
The Government’s Consumer Price Index measures the price
trend of a collection of goods and services purchased by households. Municipal
Costs such as Health Insurance, mandated costs of Special Education, and
certain capital goods rise substantially faster than a loaf of bread or a quart
of milk.
The state Department of Revenue tracks revenue increases by
community with a measure called Municipal Revenue Growth Factor. The state wide
average is currently around 4% per year.
Because the number can vary from year to year, I’ve computed a five year
average for the years 2011-2015. Here’s what it shows for Milton and the
comparable communities.
Town--------------------------MRGF Avg Annual % Increase/2011-2015
Needham------------------------------------4.54
Westford-------------------------------------4.50
Westborough-------------------------------4.49
Hingham-------------------------------------3.80
Walpole--------------------------------------3.63
Sharon----------------------------------------3.50
Westwood-----------------------------------3.46
Belmont--------------------------------------3.27
North Andover----------------------------- 3.24
Holliston----------------------------------- --3.19
Scituate---------------------------------------2.90
Milton-----------------------------------------2.65
Reading---------------------------------------2.61
During this period there were no overrides and Milton
ranked 12th out of 13 comparable communities in its annual revenue
growth. Our growth rate was nearly one full percentage point below the group
average of 3.52%. Over just a few years, this difference creates substantial
pressure on efforts to preserve the level of services we desire.
Why don’t we fix
the spending problem?
An interesting formulation that assumes its truthfulness.
Does Milton have a spending problem? Or is our spending at exactly the level
town residents have selected on a number of occasions to preserve services they
find important?
I suppose one could assume past overrides have pushed us
into the category of high spending communities. Let’s look at Department of
Revenue data for expenditures on a per capita basis for the comparable
communities.
Town--------------------------------------------Exp. Per
Capita
Westwood----------------------------------------$4544
Westborough------------------------------------$4383
Westford------------------------------------------$3889
Needham------------------------------------------$3856
Hingham-------------------------------------------$3640
Holliston-------------------------------------------$3552
Sharon---------------------------------------------$3521
Scituate--------------------------------------------$3250
Reading--------------------------------------------$3085
Milton----------------------------------------------$3053
Belmont--------------------------------------------$3000
Walpole--------------------------------------------$2980
North
Andover-----------------------------------$2471
This is 2014 data. Milton ranks 10th out of 13
towns. The comparable group average is
$3479 per capita, or $426 per capita higher than Milton’s expenditures. In
order to reach the group average, Milton would have to increase spending by
$11,502,000.
Milton does not have a spending problem. We have a
systemic revenue problem that can only be addressed through periodic overrides.
Schools cause
overrides and have high administrative costs.
Overrides occur because the Warrant Committee, The Town
Meeting and the Board of Selectmen conclude that slow revenue growth will
result in a substantial loss of services for the town, and that the voters
should be given the opportunity to weigh in on the matter.
Overrides involve all Town Departments, not just the
schools. This year, more than 50% of the revenue from a successful override
will go to non-school departments.
On the charge about administrative costs, here is
Department of Education data for the group of comparable towns.
Town--------------------------------------------Admin
Costs/Pupil
Needham---------------------------------------------$660
Scituate-----------------------------------------------$625
Westwood--------------------------------------------$493
Sharon-----------------------------------------------$463
Milton-----------------------------------------------$461
Holliston--------------------------------------------$373
Belmont---------------------------------------------$354
Westborough---------------------------------------$346
Reading---------------------------------------------$346
North Andover------------------------------------ $335
Hingham--------------------------------------------$327
Walpole---------------------------------------------$321
Westford--------------------------------------------$307
Milton ranks 5th
out of 13 towns and spends slightly more than the group average of $416 per
pupil on administrative costs. The state-wide average is $500 per pupil.
Surviving for 8
years without an override is an under-appreciated accomplishment, and credit
goes to Town Leadership.
-
Shortly after the last override, the Town Treasurer was
able to collect over $1 million of unpaid real estate taxes, easing financial
pressure for a year
-
The Town adopted a local option meals tax that today
produces just under $200,000 in annual revenue, much of it from non-Milton
residents
-
Some years ago Town
Unions agreed to increase their share of health insurance costs by 5 percentage
points, saving the town hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in costs
-
A labor contract spearheaded by then School Committee
Chair Mike Zullas and adopted by all town unions in 2016 further increased the
share of insurance payments by town employers, saving additional hundreds of
thousands of dollars per year.
-
Of course, in
addition to this, positions have been cut over the 8 years, or vacant positions
have been left vacant because of lack of money.
Some of these will be restored or filled if the override passes, and
substantial new cuts in service that would otherwise occur will be avoided with
a successful override. If you value the services of a top notch community, you
should support the override on Tuesday, June 20th.
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