March 24 override vote expected
The Board of Selectmen is expected to entertain a motion March 24 to place an operating override on a June ballot.
Selectman Kevin Greeley announced March 3 he would make motion at that meeting for a June 27 vote for an as-yet unspecified sum to help pay town and school operating expenses. The proposed town budget for fiscal 2004 has a $13.1 million deficit, but the amount of the override is expected to be far less than that, following budget deliberations through the spring.
Selectman Diane Mahon asked Greeley to consider a June 7 date, out of concern for school employees who may be laid off. In 2002, "pink slips" for school employees went out about June 15.
Greeley said he would consider the earlier date. Mahon said she will check on timing.
Greeley said he had received many e-mails and letters about this issue and that he wanted to start the process to put an override on the ballot.
Mahon asked Nancy Galkowski, acting town manager, to provide selectmen by March 10 a more "realistic" picture of how deep the cuts are expected to be. That night at 6, the Budget & Revenue Task Force is scheduled to meet.
Mahon cited examples of projected cuts that are not now as large as first reported -- the projected special-education increase of $1.5 million is now zero; the forecast cost of health insurance at $3 million is now $1.9 million and the expected loss in state aid of $4 million to $5 million is now $732,000, she said.
Projected figures about state aid remain in flux. The Boston Globe reported March 4 that state legislators fear average local-aid reductions may turn out to be greater than Gov. Romney has said. Some are suggesting aid cuts as high as 20 percent.
In that vein, Selectman Charles Lyons has written to state lawmakers, urging fairness about aid when they take up the governor's proposal this spring. The plea includes a spreadsheet showing state aid to Arlington from 1995 through 2003, or the current fiscal year.
Mahon said she spoke March 3 with Town Counsel John Maher, who said that by law the language of the operating override must have an exact figure as well as the specifics of what the money will pay for. See Maher's memo from last October.
Before Greeley made his announcement, Amy Cohen, president of Townwide PTO and a middle-school parents group, urged during the Citizens' Open Forum the critical need for an operating override.
Cohen told selectmen about an orientation meeting she attended at the high school, in which the principal outlined severe cuts to academic classes. She said as many as 10 study-hall periods per week were possible. "What college will accept our students with that on their transcripts?" she asked.
A spreadsheet provided by School Committee member Paul Schlichtman compares proposed state education for Arlington and its neighbors >>>
The selectmen's movement toward on an override came after an estimated 150 people jammed a meeting March 1 of a group aimed at jump-starting a push toward an override. The meeting at First Parish Church -- led by Nora Mann, Annie LaCourt, Liz Buchanan and Ed Starr – energized those present.
More sobering was the picture drawn by state Rep. Jim Marzilli. He offered background to the current state fiscal crisis, citing an article from the Mass. Budget & Policy Center >>>
Marzilli provided these comments about his remarks to public e-mail lists:
"We live in the fourth wealthiest state in the richest nation in the history
of the planet. I reject the notion that we cannot afford good public schools, home care for seniors, police and firefighters to keep out streets safe, and the other services that make our town what it is. Indeed, we cannot afford to NOT provide these services. It is with a mix of compassion and basic self-interest that we insist upon them.
"I will be spending the whole spring fighting for the programs that we need and deserve and will gladly go anywhere we can assemble a small group of people to explain the financial problems we face.
"I was present at the Budget Task Force Meeting this morning and am responsible for some of the information presented. I will provide a quick summary of the info and explain the cause for uncertainty
"Gov. Romney presented his first budget to the legislature on Wednesday [Feb. 26] and it included what his administration described as a reduction of approximately $230 million in local aid, an approximately ten percent cut for the town of Arlington. He also claimed that he had found and
eliminated approximately $2 billion in waste. Those were just two of around one thousand items in the $23 billion spending plan that was significantly restructured in its format, and therefore difficult to compare to the current year.
"Legislators, municipal officials and budget analysts quickly discovered that there was at least another $50 million in local aid cuts that had not previously been revealed and a complete re-writing of the local aid laws for the next few years. More ominously, the conservative-leaning Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation disputed that there was anything resembling $2 billion in savings and estimated the savings at closer to one-tenth that amount, or a little over $200 million.
"The Governor on Thursday [Feb. 27] retracted his claim that the administration found $2 billion in waste and reduced the figure to $1 billion. The MTF stands by it estimate.
"The Chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee told me that he and his Senate counterpart would be sending a letter to every city and town in the state, warning that they should expect a cut in local aid of twenty percent, double the administration's cut, in order to make up for the failure to achieve the savings originally claimed by the Governor.
"Of course both the Governor's budget and the Ways & Means Committee letters are the best estimates of people who do not have the final say in this. The final figure will be determined after a long process that involves the full House and Senate and the Governor. That decision will not be made until around July 1. Beyond the normal push and pull in a democratic process, there are a few wild cards. They include:
1) the inexact nature of projecting revenue;
2) the willingness of the legislature to accept the Governor's attempt to
raise $600 million in new fees;
3) the real level of savings that can be made; and
4) the possibility of new revenues being raised."
BUDGET BACKGROUND
Preliminary state-aid figures sent to various public e-mail lists:
She noted that transitional assistance is a one-time payment, so fiscal 2005 is uncertain.
-- Bob Sprague
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