Sunday, December 23, 2007

Property Tax and Municipal Revenue

From today's Sunday Boston Globe:

Taxes up as communities are buried in bills
Healthcare, pension, energy costs cited

By Kathy McCabe
Globe Staff / December 23, 2007

Property taxes will jump a few hundred dollars in January in municipalities across the region, as local officials raise money to pay for rising health care, pension, and utility costs.

"Almost universally across the state, communities have a lack of money to pay for services," said Lynn Mayor Edward J. Clancy Jr. "We do all that we can to hold the line on taxes. The ideal thing would be to keep tax increases in line with inflation. . . . But that is not easy to accomplish."

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"Our costs just keep going up," said Mayor Robert J. Dolan of Melrose, where the average bill will rise to $4,409. "But there is no way of getting out of this circle without raising revenue."

With the exception of Boston, where a boom in commercial/industrial values will lead to lower residential tax bills this fiscal year, the outlook for most Bay State homeowners is not so promising, according to the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, an independent, non-partisan organization focusing on tax policies.

"Cities and towns are in an extended period of fiscal squeeze," said Michael J. Widmer, executive director of the foundation. "The fundamental problem is that underlying costs are growing faster than underlying revenues."

The foundation's annual property tax survey, due to be released this month, will show that property taxes, including residential and commercial, will go up 5.1 statewide, Widmer said.
.................
Other communities have turned to commercial growth to avoid steep residential increases.

In Haverhill, where the average tax bill will go up $89 to $3,300, new retail development, including Target and BJ's Wholesale Club, was a boost, Mayor James Fiorentini said.

"We made a tremendous effort" to bring in new retailers, he said, boosting the value of commercial properties. "It was a big, big play for us."


For area localities, a big issue is that costs that rise faster than revenues. As much of an issue as that is, at least for now (most of) Massachusetts has been spared the chaos spread by the recent collapse of the housing value bubble (communities like Lawrence being an exception). Even with softer demand and the drying up of mortgage credit opportunities, demand will still remain much stronger for housing in the area than in other parts of the country. In New England, we have a built-in brake against wild speculation: limited ability to build more housing = steady demand. Compare the mildly softer market here with the craziness in places like Arizona and Florida, where whole communities and counties are collapsing with the exploded market. From today's New York Times:
This Is the Sound of a Bubble Bursting
Cape Coral, FL: TWO years ago, when Eric Feichthaler was elected mayor of this palm-fringed, middle-class city, he figured on spending a lot of time at ribbon-cuttings. Tens of thousands of people had moved here in recent years, turning musty flatlands into a grid of ranch homes painted in vibrant Sun Belt hues: lime green, apricot and canary yellow.

Mr. Feichthaler was keen to build a new high school. He hoped to widen roads and extend the reach of the sewage system, limiting pollution from leaky septic tanks. He wanted to add parks.

Now, most of his visions have shrunk. The real estate frenzy that once filled public coffers with property taxes has over the last two years given way to a devastating bust. Rather than christening new facilities, the mayor finds himself picking through the wreckage of speculative excess and broken dreams.

Last month, the city eliminated 18 building inspector jobs and 20 other positions within its Department of Community Development. They were no longer needed because construction has all but ceased. The city recently hired a landscaping company to cut overgrown lawns surrounding hundreds of abandoned homes.

Monday, December 17, 2007

Swearing In of Elected Officials

The swearing-in of re-elected and newly elected officials (Mayor, Council, Planning Board, School Committee, Library Trustees and Housing Authority) will take place at Town Hall on Wednesday, January 2nd, at 6:00 p.m., with refreshments and reception to follow in the auditorium.

A 2nd event will take place shortly afterward, at 7:00 p.m., at the Powow River Grille. Tickets for that event are $15 and available at the Grille, Maggie's Sundae, Carriagetown Wine and Spirit and Rt. 110 Liquors. A portion of the proceeds will go to Our Neighbor's Table. Canned good donations are encouraged at the door, as well. Appetizers provided; cash bar.

Both events are open to the public, though capacity at both is limited to the fire capacity of each location.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Training Days

For our orientation and preparation for starting work in January, incoming Councilors have been able to take advantage of a few opportunities.

Dayle Bell, the Permitting Coordinator in the Community and Economic Development department, has run a series of trainings recently focusing on zoning and planning issues. The Planning Board, Conservation Commission, Historical Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals have been well represented at these dense sessions. The trainings were:

*Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act
*Massachusetts Open Meeting Law
*Massachusetts zoning chapters (40A, 40B, 40R, 43D, etc).

The Town administration has also offered a few opportunities. The Superintendent of Schools Dr. Charles Chaurette has extended an invitation to meet with incoming Councilors today, to be joined by David Jack, Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Human Resources.

Mayor Kezer has also extended an invitation to incoming Councilors to observe weekly Amestat presentations by the different department heads. These meetings are ongoing through this month.

Finally, I'll be joining other elected officials from Amesbury at the Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts Municipal Association in January, for 2 days of educational workshops related to municipal management in Massachusetts.

Altogether, a good preparation for the large amount of information and work that we will doubtlessly face starting in January.

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog. The purpose of this site is to provide information of interest to the residents of Amesbury's District 6. Rather than trying to track and store email addresses or send out expensive mailers through the post, I will use this site to keep the residents of District 6 informed of ongoing issues before the Municipal Council. I plan on posting relevant public documents, links to information and some of my own considerations.

Massachusetts's Open Meeting Law is fairly strict about engaging in debate outside of formally announced public meetings. Therefore, this site is not set up for comment and discussion. Readers can forward individual posts to others, by clicking the envelop icon beneath each post. Readers can also contact me directly through my email address: sherwood.district6 (at) gmail.com.

I hope to post regularly, in order to make information regarding the actions of the Municipal Council available to the public. Thanks for your interest.