This blog has been created and maintained by the Town Manager to provide information to residents and respond to questions that residents may have. I will post comments or questions from residents that are relevant to all residents, but will not use the blog as a dialog with individual residents. As such I may re-phrase some questions at my discretion.. Questions or areas of concern can be emailed to me at Jim
Malloy. Please include your name, address and phone number in case I need to contact you to clarify your question.
Up to the date of Town Meeting, I will make it a priority to respond to questions regarding the Town budget, Town finances or Town Meeting articles but will also try to respond to other questions or comments as time permits.
Posted 5-15-12
This wasn’t really a question but a response to some comments posted to news stories about the fire station debt exclusion vote and another asking residents "what is a fair tax rate". Some of the questions made me think about the Town’s finances since I began in 2009 (FY10) and where the increases and decreases have been and whether the Town has been responsive to the economic conditions and concerned about the impact on taxpayers.
The table below shows FY10 (2009/10) through FY13 (2012/13) and where the increases have been and offsetting decreases in the Town’s budget.
Looking at this table, there obviously needs some additional explanation, but my general comments on the Town’s finances during this period are as follows:
- Overall the Town’s (non-school) budget increased 0.2% compared to the Consumer Price Index which increased 0.9% during this period. The School Department’s budget increased 2.0% and the Assabet Valley Regional Vocational School budget decreased 2.9%.
- The Town’s Insurance costs are less in the FY13 budget than the FY10 budget due to the changes the Town has made to the health insurance benefits for employees. This budget is $794,332 or 7.2% less than it was four years ago.
- The areas that the Town has invested most have been the Council on Aging, Veteran’s Services, Fire/EMS, Recreation, Youth Commission, the Building Department, the Library, Public Works and Police.
- Other areas where there have been increases that warrant further explanation are:
- Street Lights – The Town hasn’t added 56% more streetlights, the increase is due to a large increase in the electric rate that was signed on a five year contract the year before I started. FY13 is the last year of that contract and I believe we will see a significant decrease (at least SIX figures) in FY14 for all of the departments that pay electricity.
- Elections – This is just a cyclical issue (where the budget goes up and down based on the number and type of elections) and FY13 is a “high” year because of the Presidential Election this fall.
- Council on Aging - The Town has increased the hours for both the Outreach Worker and Homemaker to meet the demand for these services.
- MIS/GIS – The increase in this budget essentially stems from software the Town’s Fire Department was mandated to use for EMS to manage patient care (the ongoing software maintenance costs are in the MIS budget), the electronically permitting software for the Building Department and that the Town put together a plan to regularly replace computer equipment on a five-year plan.
- The Health Department increase is due to moving the Mosquito Control and Household Hazardous Waste Day out of the Regularly Recurring Article on the Town Meeting warrant and moving it into the Health Department Budget.
- The Debt Service budget was the largest increase and this was due to projects that were approved by Town Meeting in the mid 2000’s including purchasing the V-Arc property, the Senior Center Roof, various road projects including the Robin Road area and Wheeler/Oldham Road area with debt first hitting the budget in FY12.
- The DPW in FY13 was increased to replace the second mechanic position that was left vacant for the past 4 years.
- The Fire Department was increased in FY11 to replace the Firefighter/EMT position that was left vacant for several years to ensure adequate staffing.
Even with the changes noted above to the Town (non-school) budget, the average annual increase to the Town's budget over the past four years has only increased 0.7% (0.2% average per year) while the inflation rate has increased 3.6% (0.9% average per year) during the same period. Do I believe the Town Departments, Selectmen and Finance Committee have been responsive to the economic conditions and done their very best to maintain services while keeping the Town's budget increases to a bare minimum? Absolutely!
I'll also note that if you click here on the Budget Message for FY13 starting on page 4 there is a list of additional services various town departments are providing and/or ways they have cut costs during the past year to help maintain services to the public. It's an impressive list of improvements given the minimal increase in the budget over the past several years. When considering various requests over the next few years I'd ask voters to keep these efforts in mind.
Posted 5-9-12
Question: Why did our tax rate go up from $18.24 in Fiscal Year 2011 to $19.21 in Fiscal Year 2012?
Answer: In summary, there are five major reasons the tax rate increased $0.97 in the last year. The first reason is that the assessed value of the Town went down by $58.2 million which accounted for $0.35 of the increase. The remaining increase was related to the following increased spending - Town Department Budgets (not including Insurance and General Fund Debt) - $0.04; Insurance - $0.22; General Fund Debt - $0.18; and Schools $0.20. Added together these major categories add up to the $0.97 increase in the tax rate.
Posted 5-3-12
Question: How will the Fire Station project be financed (e.g. muni bonds), term and interest rate? What is the projected incremental basis point impact on the tax rate over the next ten years?
Answer: The Town would be issuing standard municipal bonds. We are estimating 3.5% for the interest rate for a 20 year term. The following table shows the estimated debt service (principal and interest) and impact on the average single family home in Westborough:
Posted 5-2-12
Question: Does the Town have to tax to the max every year? Where do we stand?
Answer: It depends on many different factors, however over the past several years based on the economy the Town has attempted to maintain costs among it's departments and has taken action to reduce health insurance costs 2 out of the last 3 years. An example of how this impacts the Town's finances is that the Town was approximately $10,000 from taxing to the maximum amount allowed under Proposition 2 1/2 in FY09 (levy limit) and there were concerns that the Town would need an operating override to maintain services. During the past few years the Town has not taxed to the max but has tax only the amount needed to cover level services in the budget. The following chart shows a ten year history (FY03 to FY13). In FY13 it's estimated that the Town will be approximately $2.5 million under it's levy limit (compared
to the $10,000 figure in FY09) demonstrating that Town budgets have not been growing at the level allowed under Proposition 2 1/2.
Posted 4-26-12
Question: Earlier this week, there were people handing out bright pink flyers at the Senior Center asking voters to vote against the Fire Station project. The flyer included some information that concerned me, can you respond to the information presented in that flyer?
Question 1: Why has the fire department not moved out if it’s in such dangerous condition?
Answer: There’s no place to go, what building in town would you move all of the fire apparatus, ambulances and equipment and have offices space, communications center and space for the equipment that is centrally located in Town? The building has been determined by professional structural engineers to not be structurally sound and impractical (cost-wise) to renovate to bring it into compliance with the current building code.
Question 2: Why was the Police Department the only department able to reduce its budget by 2%?
Answer: The following department reduced their Fiscal Year 2013 budgets by the following amounts for a variety of reasons:
(the Police Dept budget did not decrease by 2%)
The Town Insurance line item is the largest line item next to the School Department and this is the second time in the past three years that the line item has been decreased and the FY13 budget is less than the FY10 by over $400,000.
Question 3: When will the Town be forced to fund the pensions for Town employees in the amount of approximately $80 million?
Answer: The Town is on a funding plan to have a fully funded pension program through Worcester Regional Retirement System by or before the deadline in FY2040. We contribute every year to the program, so there will be no “surprise” $80 million bill taxpayers will be faced with.
In fact, public employees in Massachusetts are not eligible for Social Security, this means the Town does not pay into the Social Security System the 6.2% of total salaries that are paid by private employers and public employers in other states. Because of this, in Fiscal Year 2013, the current retirement program costs taxpayers $445,460 (highlighted in yellow below) less for taxpayers than paying into Social Security!
The following table shows the savings between the current retirement system and what Social Security would cost:
Posted 4-24-12
Question: The Debt Exclusion Vote on the Fire Station is very confusing. What does a yes vote or no vote mean and is it the same as an override?
Answer: A debt exclusion vote is worded very specifically by state law. Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 59, Section 21C dictates the exact wording that has to be included in a debt exclusion vote. In the case of the Fire Station, the wording is, "Shall the Town of Westborough be allowed to exempt from the provisions of proposition two and one-half, so-called, the amounts required to pay for the bonds to be issued in order to construct a new Fire Station?"
A yes vote means that you agree to exempt the debt payments from the Town's annual Proposition 2 1/2 levy limit and a no vote means that you do not agree to exempt the debt payments from the Proposition 2 1/2 levy limit. A yes vote means the Fire Station project will move forward, a no vote would require the project to go back to Town Meeting for reconsideration since the vote at the Annual Town Meeting required the debt to be excluded from Proposition 2 1/2.
A debt exclusion vote is different from an override vote because it is temporary and only exempts the amount of the debt payment from Proposition 2 1/2 and as the debt is paid off the "debt exclusion" is reduced each year. An override is a permanent override of Proposition 2 1/2 by a set dollar amount.
The following link is an excellent Primer on Proposition 2 1/2 put together by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue Proposition 2 1/2 Primer
Posted 3-30-12
Question: At the Town Meeting, there were a lot of comments about the local economy, including comments that Westborough had the 9th highest tax rate in the State and that there were 33 foreclosures last year. How does the Town stand? Also, what is the Town doing about the fact that the commercial tax base used to be 60% with the residential tax base being 40% and the recent swing that now the commercial tax base is 40% and the residential tax base 60%?
Answer: The answer is that the economy has improved both nationally and locally. Tax rate is not as important as the average single family tax bill (which Westborough is 32nd statewide and has been for some time). The following charts and tables helps explain how the Town/Region stands economically:
This first table shows the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the United States in trillions of dollars which refers to the market value of all goods and services produced within the country in each of the years listed below and while there was a dip in 2008/2009 there has been a rebound in 2010, which the following tables help show how this is reflected regionally and locally. (Source: World Bank)
While GDP shows what is going on nationally, GDP Per Capita is generally considered a way to measure the standard of living within a country, the following table shows the GDP Per Capita in the United States. Again, there is a dip in 2008 & 2009 but the 2010 level is the highest standard of living. (Source: World Bank)
While the above chart shows how we are doing nationally, the chart below shows how each state is doing. Massachusetts is one of 11 states leading the nation with 4.2% economic growth in the last year measured (source: US Dept of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis)
Even closer to home, the following table shows a 10-year history of the unemployment rate in the Framingham "New England City and Town Area", which is the closest area in our region to Westborough. This chart shows that the current local unemployment rate of 4.8% has dipped below the 2002 level of 4.9%. (Source: US Dept of Labor Statistics)
The 495/Metrowest Compact Region is an important job center providing 400,000 jobs or 11% of the total employment in the state. Notably almost 25% (100,000) of these jobs are located in the City of Worcester.
The Route 9 Corridor east of Worcester, including Natick, Framingham, Westborough Shrewsbury and Southborough collectively provides another 52% (208,000) of the Region’s employment. (Source: 495/Metrowest Compact Plan released 3/19/12 by MA Dept of Housing and Economic Development)
In the past 18 months, over 2,400 new jobs were created in Westborough and over 1,300 jobs were retained, the following is a list of companies that have either moved to Westborough or expanded (Source: Westborough Economic Development Committee):
- BJs Corporate Headquarters – 1,200 new jobs
- BNY Mellon – 900 retained jobs, 200 new jobs
- eClinical Works – 400 retained jobs, 200 new jobs
- Coughlin Electric – 60 new jobs
- CSI – 50 new jobs
- Courion – 100 new jobs
- A123 – 250 new jobs
- Travelers Insurance – 300 new jobs
- Ameridose – 250 new jobs
Home prices in Westborough have stabilized according to redfin.com, a MLS website that includes statistics on sales in each community. The following table shows that the average list price of a home in February 2012 was $462,000 up 2.8% from January 2012 and up 10.1% from February 2011. It also shows that homes that sold in February 2012 were sold at 96.5% of the asking price which was also up from January 2012 (2.6%) and up from February 2011 (2.8%).
What about the 9th highest tax rate, how can Westborough be that high and what does it mean?
It doesn’t tell you much unless coupled with the value of the average single family home. Consider the following (Source: MA Dept of Local Services Municipal Databank):
While Westborough has a higher "tax rate" Weston has a much greater Average Single Family Tax Bill due to the values of homes. Tax Rates are only a mathematical equation dividing total assessed value by the amount of property taxes raised. Without the value in the equation comparing tax rates doesn't mean very much as the example above shows.
Average Single Family Tax Bill is a much better comparison since it shows what the average homeowner actually pays. Westborough currently rates 32nd in the state in highest Average Single Family Tax Bill and has been at that point (+/-) since 2003 when the expanded high school and Mill Pond School opened. Before that going back as far as the State website has records, the Town was between 34th and 77th highest in the state. From 1988 through 2002 Westborough was in the top 15.5% in highest average single family tax bills and since 2003 Westborough has been in the top 10.1%.
While this isn't a great statistic, it shows that for a long time Westborough has had fairly high property taxes relative to all other communities in Massachusetts. The problem with this statistic is that it compares Westborough to many communities that are not similar to Westborough, including small towns of 400 people in the Berkshires and Cities that receive a lot of state aid such as Lawrence. A more accurate comparison is to compare Westborough to the other communities in what is referred to as the "495 Metrowest Area", which includes the following communities (Source: Department of Local Services Municipal Databank):
 The table above sorts these 31 communities from the highest average single family tax rate to the lowest and shows that Westborough is in the middle of the communities in the 495/Metrowest area. The column in "yellow" shows communities that receive more state aid than Westborough and demonstrates the impact of state tax policy on local property taxes. The columns highlighted in "orange" shows communities with a split tax rate which also demonstrates the role that local tax policy can play on property taxes. Among these communities Westborough is 11 out of 31 just outside of the top 1/3. However, if Westborough were to receive the average state aid of these communities and split it's tax rate so that businesses paid the average split commercial rate, Westborough would drop to 16 of 31 or
just into the bottom half.
The following table shows the breakdown between Residential (Single and Multi Family) and Business (Commercial, Industrial and Personal Property) as far back as the State's website contains data (Source: Department of Local Services Municipal Databank). This table shows the Business "high" of 52.9% in 1987 and that since 1995 that residential property has ranged right about where it is now at 62.6%. Residential peaked in 1998 at 63.0%.
Were there really 33 foreclosures last year as stated at Town Meeting? No, the following chart shows the number of foreclosures over the past 20 years. While there was a spike in 2007-2010, it was nowhere near as bad as the period 1991-1995 and the recent numbers dropped off significantly in 2011 with only 5 single family foreclosures and 1 condo foreclosure and further in the first quarter of 2012 with just 1 condo foreclosure (source: Westborough Board of Assessors).
What are some of the things the Town is doing to help encourage business to improve the tax base and create jobs?
- Established the Economic Development Committee to coordinate the Town’s efforts.
- Proactively engaging existing companies, businesses and brokers on economic development issues.
- Changed zoning to allow greater density and height while adding environmental protections.
- Become designated an Economic Target Area and a Platinum level bio-ready community to attract med-tech companies.
- Engaging in an Economic Development Self Assessment through the Dukakis Center at Northeastern (1 of 3 communities to be asked to participate)
Posted 2-14-12
Question: The 60/40 Question - I keep hearing that at one time businesses contributed 60% of our tax base and residents 40% and that now this is reversed. Is this true and if so, why the big change and what are we doing to reverse it?
Answer: The answer is that it is cyclical and fluctuates from year to year. Since, 1985, when information is available, the high point was in 1998 when residential values hit 63.0% of the total valuation of the Town and the low point was in 1987 when residential values dropped to 47.1% so there isn't a time in the past where records indicate it was as low as 40%. Since 1998 the Residential vs. Business portion of the values in Town have been relatively stable with the residential portion varying from 59.0% to 63.0%. In 2012 the residential portion of the town's valuation for tax purposes was 0.4% less than in 1998. The changes are due to many factors one of which is that during the period from 1985 to 2012 there has been a 38% increase in the number of residential units in town. Commercial property is
valued differently than residential property where as there are vacancies and rents drop to attract new tenants, the value of the property drops due to the overall decrease in the income potential for the property (due to lower rents). Residential property is valued on comparable market sales. This increase in the number of residential units combined with commercial real estate market values dropping are the main reasons why residential property has increased as a proportion of overall value in town. The chart below shows the variations in Business (Commercial + Industrial) values vs. Residential as a percentage of overall town value from 1985 to present:
 Here is another chart that shows the growth in residential value over the same period vs. the growth in business values:
The chart below shows the growth in the number of residential units, which has also added to the overall residential value making up a larger percentage of the Town's overall valuation:
The question also asks, what are we doing about it? Three years ago, the Town created an Economic Development Committee which has been very active and has become a model for other surrounding communities. The Town has become an Economic Target Area which allows the Town to offer tax incentives through Tax Increment Financing and has made changes to zoning bylaws to promote development. The Town's Economic Development Committee also has established an active outreach program to existing businesses. For more information on the Committee's activities and the Town's success click here.
Posted 1-12-12
Question: Prop 2½ means my property taxes do not exceed 2½% growth annually. I just got my tax bill, and it went up 6.52%. How can this be? There's also been significant growth in town over the past decade, why isn't this reducing my property taxes?
Answer: Here’s a summary of Proposition 2½ - municipalities are allowed to increase their total taxes raised by the previous year’s levy limit x 2.5% (whether they tax at the levy limit or not and Westborough does not, for FY13 we are approximately $1.4 million under) + new growth that occurs during the previous year. This is on the total property tax raised, not on individual homes. Each year as property is reassessed, there are shifts in the proportion that is levied against residential properties and commercial or industrial properties. In those years that the commercial/industrial proportion is reduced, the balance is shifted to residential property thus creating the years when your property taxes increase more than 2.5%. Additionally, your
own property may increase in value more than other residential properties. The overall value of commercial and industrial property is down (as a proportion) since 2000 fairly significantly. It doesn’t take much of a % shift for there to be a significant impact due to the large size of the figures. During this period there’s been a 5% shift from commercial/industrial to residential.
There are a host of other issues that also cause your property taxes to increase more than the 2.5% which includes the impact each year on “new growth” from personal property in businesses that exists one year, adds to the overall value for future years but may not exist in other years and is then absorbed by residential, industrial and commercial. Additionally, since Westborough is not at the levy limit, some years the actual amount needed exceeds 2.5% but we remain under our Proposition 2½ levy limit because over a period of years we had built up excess levy capacity.
On the second part of the question, while there has been significant growth, commercial and industrial properties are valued differently than residential. Commercial and industrial properties are valued on a revenue basis not a market basis, so while there has been growth, the “rents” on commercial and industrial properties are down significantly which has resulted in their value being reduced.
Additional information on the FY13 budget is available online. The budget presentation and budget message also helps explain where the expenditure increases are as well as revenues and other factors affecting local property taxes.
Posted 12-23-11
Question: I'm wondering if you could talk about the Towns relationship with EL Harvey, and if there is an economic incentive for the residents of Westborough to recycle (vs. just dumping everything in the general trash bin)? Do we save money as a Town if we recycle, how does it work?
Answer: There is an economic incentive to recycling! Recycling saves the Town money by “avoided” costs of sending the trash to the Wheelabrator facility in Millbury. It works like this:
The Town contracts with Harvey’s to operate the transfer and recycling area. Non-recycled trash (the stuff that goes on the conveyor belt) is compacted and trucked to the Wheelabrator facility in Millbury where it is burned and used to generate electricity. Harvey’s charges a fee ($34) for each ton of that non recyclable trash sent to Millbury. Wheelabrator charges $72 per ton to burn it. So, if residents recycle a ton of trash instead, then we save about $106. This is called an “avoided cost”. Last year the Town saved about $70,000 in avoided costs by recycling. So, you can see that every bit of trash that is recycled by residents adds up!
The Town has been doing business with E.L. Harvey and Sons for over 50 years.
Posted 10-28-11
JUST IN TIME FOR WINTER!!
Question: After the large amount of snow we received last winter I am wondering what responsibility do homeowners have for snow removal on the sidewalks in front of their homes. There were many homes in the downtown area that did not remove snow in front of their homes leaving large snow banks and areas of sidewalk covered with snow. As a parent I feel this is a huge hazard to children walking to their bus stop in the morning, it promotes them having to walk in the street or on top of large snowbanks.
Answer: This answer is thanks to Town Counsel Gregory Franks - Last Summer, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that all property owners are legally responsible for the removal of snow and ice from their property. The old rule was that owners could leave natural accumulations of snow and ice intact and not be liabile for falls. This is no longer the case, this change means that all property owners, both residential and commercial, need to remove snow from sidewalks after snow and ice storms. At this time, the Town of Westborough does not have local bylaws to authorize the Town to enforce snow and ice removal from sidewalks, so liability and whether property owners have properly removed snow and ice accumulations will be left up to the courts. If residents are not able to clear sidewalks on their property, they
should hire private contractors to take care of it for them.
Posted 8-30-11
Question: Why didn't the Town have up to date information on when my electricity would come back on during Hurricane Irene?
Answer: The Town does not generally have specific up to date information on each property in town, the best source of information is National Grid's website, which residents can submit power outage information and obtain updates on your outage. National Grid updates the information every fifteen minutes. Try this website http://www.nationalgridus.com/masselectric/storm/storm_outage.asp for the best information.
Posted 7-28-11
Question: I thought I could pay my water bill online but I can't find the link anywhere??
Answer: If you go to the homepage and click on “Pay Your Taxes Online” (under “For Residents”) you can pay the bill there, but here’s the direct link http://www.town.westborough.ma.us/Public_Documents/WestboroughMA_Treasurer/payments I realize this is a bit of a misnomer since you're looking to pay your water and sewer bill online (and not taxes). We are very close to releasing a completely revamped website that we’ve been working on for several months and on it, this is referred to simply as “Online Payments” and is much more prominently displayed on the page.
Posted 7-21-11
Question: I am concerned about the time it's taking to fix South Street, what's going on with this project?
Answer: To give you an idea why it’s taken the time it has for this project, consider the following:
- When you excavate a trench line in an existing street you need to allow it to settle over a winter so that when you repave the pavement lasts and you don’t have collapses and a rough road surface. The Town worked very hard to ensure that we had the trenches completed last winter so that we could get the road paved this summer. Had construction carried over into this Spring, we would not be repaving until next Summer. This is a standard construction practice to ensure a long lasting quality road surface.
- We could have paved earlier this Spring, however we are planning on cold planning or milling the asphalt surface to a specified profile. Bumps, ruts, and other surface irregularities are removed and again, when repaved we will have a much better, longer lasting smoother surface. Because this causes disruption, we worked with the School Department to ensure that we didn’t undertake this operation until after school was completed for the summer and there would be no conflicts with the bus schedule.
- During the last several weeks, crews have been out resetting granite curbing and repairing sidewalks and replacing loam along the resident’s properties that abut South Street, this should be completed in the next 2-3 weeks at which time we will begin the paving portion of the project.
Please note we are following standard construction practices to ensure the best long-term (and smoothest) surface for the community.
Posted 7-17-11
Question: We must have had six feet of snow last winter, why is the Town imposing an Outside Watering Ban? This makes no sense!
Answer: The outdoor watering ban is regulated by the Town's Water Management Act Permit issued by the Commonwealth of MA. The purpose of regulating how much water any city or town can withdraw from the aquifers is to ensure downstream communities have sufficient water to meet their needs as well. The Water Management Act Permits are regulated on a river basin basis and the permit provides two options for communities. The first is the calendar method which simply bans outdoor water use between 9 AM and 5 PM continuously from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The second method, which the Town uses is referred to as the Streamflow Option and for Westborough, this is a stream gauge monitored by the United States Geologic Service (USGS) in the Assabet River and whenever the river at the point of our stream gauge drops
below 57 cubic feet per second (cfs) for three consecutive days, the Town is required to implement the outdoor watering ban which must remain in place until the flow in the river exceeds 57 cfs for seven consecutive days. If you follow this link it will take you to the USGS website where you can monitor the river gauge http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?cb_00060=on&cb_00065=on&format=gif_default&period=30&site_no=01097000
Posted 6-16-11
Question: What's happening to businesses in town? It seems like there are a lot of empty buildings?
Answer: The Town's Economic Development Committee has been very busy and was initiated right at the start of the recession. Westborough is actually doing excellent compared to very many other communities. In the past two years, Westborough has seen business expansions and many new businesses move into Town, with new job creation around 2,700 new jobs in two years!. The following are some examples: BJ's National Headquarters (1200 jobs); Bank of New York/Mellon Bank (expanded from 1100 jobs to 1450 jobs); A123 Battery (250 jobs); eClinicalWorks (expanded from 400 to 650 jobs); Conservation Services (200 jobs) and several other businesses such as Ameridose, Corian, Rand Whitney, Coughlin Electric and Labcorp have added at least another 500 jobs. We have also seen several new restaurants open and there are 3
businesses that are moving into the Bay State Commons in the next few months and the Cloverleaf Chevrolet Dealership is about to be renovated and re-opened as a new car dealership.
Posted 5-5-11
Question: At Town Meeting, what would happen if Article 6, Fiscal Year 2012 Operating Budgets was not approved?
Answer: This is not likely to happen because the Article is not voted on in whole, the process used is to hold individual line items in the budget, voters then discuss each item that's held and a vote is taken on that line item and whatever figure the majority approves is the budget for that particular line item. Once the Town Meeting makes it's way through each held line item, the amounts approved, whether the original amount or a revised amount would be the Town's budget.
Posted 5-5-11
Question: When would the appropriate time be to allow the voters of Westborough to drive decreasing the budget for the Town? If not at Town Meeting, then when?
Answer: Town Meeting is when voters have the opportunity to vote on specific line items in the budget and the majority prevails. Voters may also attend the sessions of the Board of Selectmen or Advisory Finance Committee to voice their concerns regarding budgets, both hold public meetings during the budget process.
Posted 4-26-11
Question: My street is full of potholes and is in rough shape, when is the Town going to fix it?
Answer: Any resident can find out how their road rates compared to other roads in Town and when it is likely to be repaired by reviewing the Town's Road Management Plan created this year. This project was undertaken in-house at no cost to taxpayers to develop a rating system on various factors for every road in town. The plan was developed placing the worst roads at the top of the list and developing a plan using current budget amounts to address road repairs over the next several years.
Posted 4-6-11
Question: Are you concerned with the Town's long term obligation for retirement costs?
Answer: The Town is part of the Worcester Retirement System which is governed by state law which currently requires full funding of the retirement liability by 2040. According to the Town's Fiscal Year 2010 independent audit, the Town's liability that has to be funded by 2040 is approximately $21,241,000. This is funded each year through an assessment from the Worcester Retirement System and for Fiscal Year 2012 (the next fiscal year), this assessment equals $2,175,526. Since the retirement plan for public employees is a defined benefit plan, the Town does not participate in the Social Security System (in MA, public employees are not eligible for Social Security) and is not subject to the Employer's FICA tax of 6.2% of salaries. The Town's total salaries for Fiscal Year 2012 is $45,233,697 so without the
current retirement system, the Town would be paying $2,804,489 as a FICA tax for the employees to participate in the Social Security System, which is 29% higher than the current retirement assessment.
If the Town were not a member of the retirement system and were required by law to pay FICA taxes, between Fiscal Year 2012 and Fiscal Year 2040 (assuming a minimal 1% per year wage increase) the Town's total cost would be $93,800,000 compared to a liability under our current retirement system of $21,240,000.
My answer is that based upon an alternatives analysis, no I am not concerned about the Town's retirement liability, it's a part of the annual cost of doing business and it's much less expensive for the taxpayers than the Social Security and it provides a better benefit for those employees that stay long-term.
Posted 4-6-11
Question: How is the levy limit calculated and what is it?
Answer: To limit local property tax increases, in the 1980's voters placed a limitation on property taxes that they could not exceed 2.5% of the total assessed value of the community and that increases were limited to 2.5% of the previous year's property taxes plus any new development (called new growth). The Town must stay within these property tax revenues unless voters approve an override in a specific dollar amount. For Fiscal Year 2012, the calculation looks like this:
Posted 4-6-11
Question: How does the budget process work at town meeting?
Answer: The Advisory Finance Committee makes a motion, under the appropriate article in the annual town meeting warrant, for a detailed budget covering all town departments including the school system, sewer and water expenses, and the Town's share of the Assabet Valley Regional Technical School.
The moderator then reads the proposed budget line by line. Anyone wishing to question a particular line item calls out "Question!" when that line is read. "Question!" can mean that the individual simply wants to hear more information, or it may mean that s/he wants to propose a higher or a lower figure. Once the budget has been entirely read through, the unquestioned items are voted as a block. We then go back and take up the questioned items one at a time, hold discussion, and ultimately vote on each. A majority vote is required. (Answer provided by Joe Harrington, Town Moderator)
Posted 4-6-11
Question: I just think taxes should be lower, and I don't care how that is achieved. Can't I just move to reduce the budget by some percentage, or by some dollar amount?
Answer: No. Such an approach might be appropriate at the beginning of the budget process in the fall, as a proposed basis for developing the budget. But at town meeting, the budget has been very carefully worked through, and there are many interrelated parts. Motions to change the budget need to be in corresponding detail. A general motion to reduce the budget by a given percentage or a given dollar amount would not be nearly specific enough to provide guidance to the town accountant as to what figures to adopt for each budget. There would be many ways to meet such a general instruction, and you might be surprised that you did care after all about the implementation of your proposal. (“Oh, I didn’t mean they should cut that!”)
Motions must be specific, and deal in specific dollar terms with a specific line item or items, or they will not be accepted for debate and vote. Consultation with the moderator in advance may avert substantial disappointment at town meeting. Discussions with others at Town Hall or on the Advisory Finance Committee, who are knowledgeable about the budget(s) involved, may also be useful in coming up with proposals that are specific and workable. (Answer provided by Joe Harrington, Town Moderator)
Posted 4-6-11
Question: What if I want to propose shifting funds from one line item to another, or from several line items to several other line items?
Answer: In cases like this it is important that you question all the line items that will be involved in your proposal, because once a line item is voted as part of the block of unquestioned items, it becomes more difficult to go back and make a change, because it has already been voted on.
When discussion is opened on the first of the items that you questioned, you should explain not just what you want to happen on that particular line item, but any related changes that you want to propose for other line items. It would be highly advisable to consult with the moderator in advance of the meeting, in order to be sure of the form of your motion. Working out your motion with the moderator in advance assures that your motion will be accepted and that there will be no procedural issues to clarify on town meeting floor. You can get right into making the case for your proposal. (Provided by Joe Harrington, Town Moderator)
The moderator strongly prefers that the meeting concentrate on discussing the merits of various proposals, and deciding the issues on their merits, not on settling procedural disagreements, points of order, and the like. He also dislikes ruling proposals out of order when with a little advance preparation, they could have been phrased appropriately. (Answer provided by Joe Harrington, Town Moderator)
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