Preview: $250,000 Mid-Year Spending Request

For the City Council's final (planned) meeting of the current two year session this coming Tuesday, December 8th, there are a few items of note on our agenda.

First, we have everyone's favorite vote of the year: establishing the final property tax rate for FY2016 (which started on July 1, 2015). Though this vote often gets lots of attention and occasionally produces heat, the fact is, the property tax rate at this point is really 100% baked in the cake, once the City Council approved the FY16 annual budget for the city back in June of this year.

The ONLY substantial decision that we have to make with this vote is whether or not we should tax commercial and industrial properties at the same rate as residential properties. Under Massachusetts law, municipalities can 'split' the rate and tax commercial and industrial properties at a higher rate than residential properties, taking a little pressure off residential property owners (by adding even more pressure on commercial/industrial owners). Amesbury experimented with a split tax rate in 2006-07 and it proved to be a highly unpopular experiment. The rate was 'un-split' in 2008 (when I served on the Council the first time around). I don't expect a split rate to be proposed at our Tuesday meeting.

Of much greater interest is a mid-year appropriations request from Mayor Gray for $250,000 in unbudgeted expenses. These include:

• $40,000 to update the City's Housing Production Plan
• $10,000 for lighting improvements in the parking garage
• $10,000 for lighting improvements in public safety buildings
• $35,000 for capital assessment and planning for parks and recreation facilities
• $15,000 for a ridership study for potential bus connection from Amesbury to Newburyport Park & Ride and rail services
• $25,000 for preliminary study related to larger downtown planning effort and possible District Improvement Financing (DIF) proposal
• $20,000 for Middle School energy management planning
• $10,000 to complete Open Space and Recreation Plan
• $30,000 gap funding for DPW barn cleanup
• $55,000 gap funding for EPA cleanup

You can read the full request, along with accompanying letter from Mayor Gray and memo from Economic and Community Development Director Bill Scott HERE.

All of these expenses are to be appropriated out of a Smart Growth Housing and Expedited Permitting Stabilization account that the City Council established in 2007. That account was set up to receive and maintain any monies that the City might receive in relation to projects permitted under Chapter 43D (Expedited Local Permitting) and 40R (Smart Growth Housing). The City has received incentive payments from the Commonwealth under both programs (for the 43D expedited permitting process in place for the 'Golden Triangle' area and the 40R Amesbury Heights residential development that recently broke ground on Rt. 110).

As established by the City Council, monies from this stabilization account can be broadly used to 'offset the impacts' of 43D and 40R projects. We have $350,000 in the account currently; this would leave $100,000 in the account. The City expects to receive a substantial second incentive payment soon from the Commonwealth in relation to the Amesbury Heights project ($750,000).

Most of these requests are a great example of how a municipality (or a business, for that matter) has to often spend money to make money. The Housing and the Open Space/Recreation Plans are both required by the Commonwealth in order to obtain access to certain grant and incentive programs. The energy management planning at the Middle School is expected to pay for itself in anticipated energy savings. Same with the lighting improvements. I'm pleased to see these kinds of planning requests come before the Council.