Now if you happen to reside in a town in Massachusetts, there is a distinct possibility that somewhere on the agenda at your upcoming town meeting is a Proposition 2 1/2 override proposal, and no doubt it is the cause of much controversy. It is no different here in Andover where a proposed 2.5 million dollar override has the town in quite a tizzy. The school department has flat out said that if the override fails, they will have to eliminate the entire athletic program to make up for the shortfall.
With the situation allegedly so dire, one has to wonder why the Town of Andover saw fit to give the teachers a generous new contract, how on earth are they going to pay for it? Surely in these tough economic times the town shouldn’t be so quick hand out a lucrative contract to a group of employee’s who are already some of the best paid teachers in the state, right? Wouldn’t that make sense? Well, apparently the powers that be thought otherwise.
And those tough economic times? How tough are they really? It isn’t like government spending in Andover has increased ninety-two percent in ten years or anything. Wait a minute, you mean it has? But, that can’t be, Andover has been experiencing hard times these last few years, you mean the budget hasn’t been decreasing? No Johnny, it has been increasing every year, in fact if the override were to fail, Andover’s budget would still be nearly $138 million dollars. Not a bad chunk of change considering the town as less than 32,000 residents!
I consider myself a moderately liberal guy, if taxes need to be increased to help pay for services then I’m all for it, but when town leaders come groveling to the taxpayers because they were poor stewards of the town’s finances I’m sorry but before I’m going to vote for an increase in taxes, how about you stop spending the money on things it shouldn’t be spent on? Like awarding generous contracts to already generously compensated town employees. How about ending the ridiculous practice of buying back retirees leftover sick time, which can end up costing the town upwards of tens of thousands of dollars? The Andover Selectmen and School Committee haven’t done enough to convince me that we need another 2.5 million dollars in property taxes, and unless something dramatic happens between now and April 30th, I will certainly be voting against the override
I don’t live in Andover and don’t have an opinion on your override. You should certainly vote as you see fit, and if you have time run for Town Meeting or otherwise get involved in local budgets. If you see fat and waste, go after it.
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p>But that “92 percent” is a show stopper and when I checked your link I didn’t find the kind of information that would help me to understand it (even assuming it’s true).
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p>In the past ten years we’ve had education reform, funded mostly by the state, pumping up local budgets. This is in response to a general consensus, both locally and nationally, that schools need substantial new resources to be competitive in today’s changing global economy.
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p>You may not agree, or may feel that the money is not being well spent, but my point is that comparing your town’s budget to that of a decade ago needs to account for some changes. It’s not a straight apples-to-apples thing.
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p>Has Andover grown at all in the past 10 years? If so that growth is going to account for some of the 92 percent. New homes and businesses require all kinds of services, from sewer to plowing to police to schools.
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p>Is there a capital component to the increase? Any new schools or fire stations? The past decade could have been exceptional for Andover in that respect if such work had been deferred previously. Again, I don’t know–do you?
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p>Similarly towns can get clobbered by things like Special Education costs over which they have no control.
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p>92 percent for a decade is about 6.7% per year, which is far ahead of inflation. But municipal government inflation is greater than that for consumers, cities and town in mass. have all kinds of unfunded mandates (Special Ed. is just one example) on top of that.
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p>All I’m saying is that if you take all of the above into account Andover might not be doing too badly. Maybe you have, but it doesn’t show in your post.
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p>The driving force behind most overrides these days is inadequate state aid. In my town we’re still below 2002 levels. Good luck in Andover.
..of the 361 communities in MA, 291 have Open Town Meeting. The vast majority of those are truly Open, where you don’t need to run for anything – ANY registered voter/trouble maker can stand and opine! (heh).
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p>And STILL it is treated as the exception rather than the rule. Your mayors and city councils are the true exceptions!