ONE Massachusetts Weekly Update

Greetings!

As a reader of our newsletter, you've probably seen discussions focused on how we make decisions about our communities' priorities, and how we decide how to fund those priorities.

Newton Override Moms [Boston Globe]

One way that the dynamic relationship between spending and funding becomes very clear is at a municipal level - when local residents speak up about the funding for their neighborhoods.

This week, the Boston Globe featured an article about communities facing Proposition 2 1/2 votes, and how those votes encouraged cities and towns to take a long hard look at what they want for their families and neighbors. These discussions are a good example of people really balancing their budget priorities with the revenue options available to them - namely, property taxes:

...Residents in Franklin narrowly rejected a controversial $3 million proposed tax hike, a decision that will probably cost the jobs of 15 teachers and several law enforcement personnel and delay repairs to the town's battered residential roadways, a local official said.

"Our option is to carry out the mandate of the voters, which was to preserve the lowest possible tax rate and accept eroding services,'' said Stephen Whalen, vice chairman of Franklin's Town Council, on the 4,143-to-3,820 vote defeating the tax hike. About 40 percent of local voters turned out, he said.

"I think the mark of a great community is that every kid has access to top-notch public education, and raising fees like that turns us into a town of haves and have-nots,'' he said.

This sentiment was apparently shared by residents of other communities, like "Holliston, Hopkinton, Foxborough, Millis, Carlisle, and West Newbury that approved overrides ranging from $800,000 to $3 million within the past few months."

GBIO - Jan 2007

While ONE Massachusetts has worked for years convening "Overriders," active volunteer community activists that urge their neighbors to financially support their schools, emergency services, and other town priorities, now cities and towns across the state are seeing even less local aid - forcing additional cuts, increased property taxes and fees, or a combination of the two:

The proposed overrides this year have tended to be relatively modest in size and geared toward immediate needs, such as operational shortfalls and retaining teachers for the 2010-11 academic year, said Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.

Gone, at least for now, are the days when towns would ask for multimillion-dollar tax increases to cover two or more years of projected expenses or ambitious building projects, he said.

"We're seeing more of 'Let's get through this year and worry about the next year when it comes,' '' Widmer said. "My overall sense is even in communities that often pass overrides there is a recognition of the realities of an economic recession and that the only chance of passage is if they are modest. This is not the time to ask for large numbers.''

Is your town looking at overrides as an option? Contact me to setup a free local override training, including municipal finance, state budget issues and their effect on your town's budget, and tips on how to communicate effectively about priorities and funding to your friends and neighbors!

Yawu Miller
Project Director, ONE Massachusetts