FY17 School Budget Update

Well, it is that time of year again and May/June brings another annual School Budget review and vote. Here's my take, with a veritable treasure trove of linked documents.

You can see a complete copy of the FY17 School budget HERE. You can find additional support documentation on this page posted by Superintendent Reese. You can see the Superintendent's PPT initial budget presentation to the School Committee HERE.

The total School budget request for FY17 is $29,669,627. This is up $712,129 from FY16 (or, 2.46%). The School budget represents 51.8% of the overall General city budget (excluding Water and Sewer enterprise fund budgets). The School budget consistently represents over half of the city's operating budget.

Here's my nickel summary: due to a confluence of budget dynamics unique to this year, the School Committee was able to approve a budget that both grew at a lower amount than recent years and made incremental improvements/additions to staffing and programming.We still have a long ways to go to achieve the levels of programming and smaller classroom sizes from the last decade, but this budget at least represents a (quite) modest step forward.

First, what helped with this year's 'windfall' of cost savings? A few things. First and foremost, there are 13 retirements at the end of this school year. All of the positions will be replaced, but almost by definition, the replacements will come in at lower salaries. We also have some special education students returning to the district from costly out-placements, other out-placement special education students who have been re-assigned to other school districts, some student's 'aging out' of out-placements, and increased retention of special education students in-district (cost avoidance). The combination of savings in salary and savings in out-of-district placements 'freed up' funds to be re-directed to new positions or increased hours for other positions. This positive 'perfect storm' will likely NOT repeat next year; by comparison, we only have 3 retirements coming next year.

What was ADDED to the budget, over the current year? You can see the full list HERE of what was added. Here are my highlights, with AMS receiving the most new benefit:

• Cashman: increased Pre-K/K staffing (18 hrs/week) and increased clerical support
• AES: 1.0 FTE SPED teacher, increased clerical support
• AMS: 1.0 FTE 'EAST' teacher (English/Arts/Science Technology); 1.0 FTE SPED teacher. 0.5 of a new 1.0 FTE Adjustment Counselor, shared with High School
• AHS: 0.5 Adjustment Counselor (shared with AMS); 1.0 FTE Science/Tech teacher; 2 PT library aides
• Amesbury Innovation High School: increased SPED paraprofessional support
• Central Office: Increased clerical support to Superintendent

In a meeting that I had with Dr. Reese last week, he could assure me that with the staff additions at AMS, the Middle School will not face the threat of recent years of failing to make its 'time on learning' requirements for the Commonwealth.

Sounds positive! Any other good news? A number of fees will be going down. Per student Athletics fees will be going down by $65, to $285. Co-curriculur activity fees will be going down by $30, to $50 per student. Family cap will be going down by $300, to $900. Bus fees will be dropping significantly, from $360 to $250, with the family cap at $450.

OK, any bad news? More a cautionary note but the gains in this year's budget will be challenging to repeat in FY18, since it is unlikely that we'll see the kind of one-time cost savings that it looks like we'll have for FY17. The challenges for ELL (English Language Learner) students at Cashman will continue. For next year, we'll have 1.0 FTE teaching a cohort that includes students with at last 30 different native languages, which is half that staffing recommended by the Commonwealth. Enrollment figures continue to show an upward trend in percent of students with special needs, this year topping 20% of our student population. Average classroom size at Cashman for Grades 2-4 will be 23-24. Most of the additions to staffing are not within mainstream curriculum offerings (with the exception of the two EAST teachers at AMS & AHS). The district dropped from having 3 of 4 schools at 'Level 1' to only having one school at 'Level 1', using this metric from the Commonwealth.

Finally, the district continues to chase its tail to an extent in regards to capital investment in educational technology. In the very near future, the district will have to meet steep demands for having technology in place that can handle required testing and this on top of the use of computer resources for day-to-day educational purposes. This means having enough units, adequate bandwidth and wireless access, and networking switching capacity to handle the volume. You can read the districts 5 year technology capital plan HERE. Read more about projected enrollment and class sizes HERE.

What else? The Innovation High School may be running into a jam with its facility. Currently, the district rents a building from All Saints Anglican Church (by the City Hall/Police Department rotary) but that lease is running up and the church is asking for an increase. They are currently there on a month-to-month lease basis only. There are no likely changes on the horizon for foreign language and arts offerings. Roof work at the Middle School is on this year's capital improvement plan; similar work needed at Cashman is slated for FY18 (you can read the current Capital Improvement Plan HERE). We continue to have a problem with attrition, especially around 9th and 10th grades, with substantial numbers of families opting to send their children to other schools (including Whittier Tech). We average about 70 students a year leaving our high school. That represents over 10% annual loss of enrollment and not because our population is shrinking but because students are opting to study elsewhere. Competition remains a real issue, especially with St. John's Prep in Danvers having recently expanded into offering Middle School education.

Summary - So, this is a good budget in the sense that it does not take steps backward. I applaud Dr. Reese and the School Committee for taking a more strategic approach than even last year. This year, they explicitly did NOT simply fund the top 1 or 2 priorities at each building but rather focused resources where it seemed the most benefit would be gained, which meant directing more resources to AMS and AHS than to other buildings. This will hopefully prevent some expensive out-of-district special education placements and might help with our attrition problems, but that remains to be seen.

Preserving Amesbury's Open Spaces

It's springtime in Amesbury and that has me thinking about the outdoors. The Amesbury Trails group had it's kick-off meeting for 2016 last weekend and there is a lot poppin' in town, regarding open space and our stewardship of it.

Whittier Hill

Our friends at the Essex County Greenbelt Association have recently made public the very exciting news that they have signed a Purchase and Sale agreement on a good chunk of the undeveloped Whittier Hill ridge line. Where is Whittier Hill?  It is the hill line that runs overlooks both Whitehall Road and Woodsom Farm.

This is about 20 acres of forested land that has a number of virtues as priority open space for the residents of Amesbury:

• It is perhaps the last unprotected and undeveloped ridge line in Amesbury.
• It abuts Cashman School land - there is already an existing trail from Cashman School leading onto this property, used by some educators at CES for science walks.
• It abuts Woodsom Farm land 
• It offers trail connections to: Woodsom Farm, Cashman School, Town Park (via Whitcher Court), and the recently purchased Quinn property at 116 Whitehall Road

If you look at this property in a larger perspective, you can see that it is a very nice link in what we can call Amesbury's 'Emerald Necklace', a circuit of open space that includes: Woodsom Farm, Whittier Hill, Cashman School, Town Park, the High School, the Great Swamp Area, and Town Forest. The vision (ok, maybe for just a few of us at this point) is to create a contiguous circuit of trails that connects all of these properties, for passive recreation use. 


The Greenbelt already owns or manages some properties in town (the boardwalk that was built Fall of 2015 connecting the Town Forest and Woodsom Farm was on a block of Greenbelt property).

They will be embarking on a fundraising campaign very soon for this purchase. You can view the website for this campaign HERE.

Open Space Committee

In February, I put forward an ordinance to the City Council that would establish an Open Space Committee for the City of Amesbury (you can read the original submission HERE, though the Ordinance Committee has proposed several amendments, including the retention of the Parks and Recreation Commission). With representation from the City Council, Conservation Commission, Planning Board, and general public, it would support the City in developing and implementing policy related to the stewardship of open space properties in Amesbury.

Amesbury owns approximately 1,100 acres of open space (view the database here). The two largest parcels are two of the lots that comprise most of Woodsom Farm but did you know that the third largest parcel of City-owned open space is the Merrimack Landing Conservation Area, at 102 acres? You might recall that I wrote about this property two years ago, in reference to the flagrant and unregulated abuse by the previous owners of the Amesbury Sports Park of this property. For me, those events were something of an awakening. On the one hand, even though I was an avid user of various trails in Amesbury, I had no idea about the open space available to the public in the Merrimack Landing Conservation Area. At the same time, it seemed clear that the City didn't really have any robust plans or means to oversee and steward its own open spaces. The Event Permit Ordinance that I submitted and that passed last year was an attempt to help the City regulate the use of its own property and city assets.

With the emergence of the active Amesbury Trails group, the time is right to take this a step further and set up a public body tasked with stewarding the 1,000+ acres of land that we own with active input from residents. We are the only community in the area (city OR town) that does NOT have an Open Space Committee in place to steward open space properties. As any good business owner (or homeowner, for that matter) will tell you, without good planning and active management, your assets will quickly go to waste and will deteriorate in value.

1,000+ acres of open space represents, in my view, a very tangible asset for economic growth and community development that we've barely begun to tap. Sure, a few people might know where the Town Forest is, or have visited Deer Island, or have wandered the trails from Battis Farm, to Po Hill, to Lake Gardner Beach. But our trails are poorly marked, if at all and are only sporadically maintained. We have no management plans in place for any of our open space properties. And we don't really have any priorities for what properties we might want to preserve in the future.

The Open Space Committee measure will come before the City Council for full consideration at our May 10th meeting. Please consider coming out to support this measure.
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UPDATE: The Open Space Committee measure was unanimously adopted by the City Council. Invitations have been sent out to the Planning Board and the Conservation Commission, inviting them to appoint a member to the new Committee. We will be looking for three people from the community, as well, to join the Committee.

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.

Why is the Mayor campaigning against me?

First let me say, it is the right of the Mayor to campaign for whomever he wants. While I didn’t walk door to door with his predecessor (Mayor Gray is walking with my competitor), I was an avid supporter of the previous Mayor, so *I* would probably campaign against me too, if I were him. But all joking aside, who am I and what do I *actually* stand for?

Sometimes I’m portrayed as a tax-and-spend liberal, aka wild-eyed and irresponsible, someone wanting no accountability, a ‘rubberstamp’, you’ve heard the names I and others have been called.

But the reality is, nothing could be further for the truth. I am someone who digs in deeply and takes the time to understand our city finances and our planning objectives – capital improvement plans, the Master Plan from 2004, Open Space plans, site-specific plans such as for the Lower Millyard. I spend lots of time talking to city staff, attending committee meetings (not just the ones I have to attend) and communicating what I’ve learned with my constituents. And my day job is about working with communities to help them develop intelligent affordable housing strategies.

I believe in economic development and creating an environment where businesses feel supported.

I fought hard against the split-tax (which raised taxes on local businesses back in 2006) and when I was elected for my first term in 2007, I voted to overturn it the first chance we had. And that is why I also voted in support of the two TIFF incentives for businesses that Mayor Gray has brought before the City Council.

Let’s talk straight for a moment. I’ve been hearing about the taxes being high in Amesbury since the day I moved here and that’s when the tax rate was 14.24.  This isn’t about tax rates, it’s about people not wanting to pay taxes; I get it. Sure the taxes are high, but most of us picked Amesbury because we could get more house for our money, can have a better quality of life for less, and it’s a beautiful community. 

The idea that I don’t care about spending is silly—I chaired an ad hoc committee in 2010 just after the housing crash to better understand our taxes and spending. I fought against an under-ride ballot measure sponsored by, among others, Councilor McClure, that would have chopped $1 million dollars off of the top of our budget, because it had no rationale behind it. And I have supported many difficult measures through the years that cut spending. (Let’s remember that the only negative budget growth that we’ve seen in the last twenty years came under Mayor Kezer.)

The difference between me and the Mayor is I’m not fixated on taxes; I’m hung up on our services. I’m focused on making sure we are right-sized, that we are talking about the amenities that matter, whether that’s at the public library, the senior center, or our open space properties. I’m fiercely dedicated to educating our children and being a steward for our conservation land. You won’t see me making false promises about cutting your tax bill. Instead, I will fight for you. I will fight for what the things that I think define a healthy and vibrant community. My family is here for the long haul.   

So, I'm not really sure why he wants me out of office. I believe that we need a strong municipal Council that is independent and free-thinking, free to support the Mayor when it makes sense, and free to question him when necessary. 

Meeting with Interim Superintendent Reese

Photo via Twitter, '@AmesburySchools'

I had the opportunity to meet with Amesbury Interim Superintendent of Schools, Gary Reese this week. With the start of the school year, he seems to have hit the ground running. I wouldn't say that I envy Mr. Reese's position, coming to Amesbury as he did after something of a tumultuous and challenging year for the District: outside reports that identified substantial weaknesses and 'opportunities for growth' (Walker and DESE reports), an unpaid electric bill that grew into a veritable crisis of confidence for many, two finance related audits (one of which is still not final), and the resignation of Dr. Robinson from the Superintendent position, only months after her contract renewal was unanimously approved by the School Committee.

It was a good opportunity to establish a connection with Mr. Reese. One of the commitments that I made when I ran for City Council two years ago was to significantly increase my level of attention to School Committee and School District matters. With the School budget representing over half of the City's operating budget, relying on a single budget hearing to primarily guide one's understanding of this complex operation (the school district) is not a good idea. In the past two years, I've either attended in person or viewed on local cable access almost all of the School Committee's Finance Sub-Committee meetings regarding the annual budget. This past year, I met directly with all but one of the principals and both the Superintendent and Ass't Superintendent to understand the details of and rationale behind their various budget requests.

At a recent School Committee meeting, Mr. Reese present a year-long 'Entry Plan' to the School Committee. You can read the Plan HERE. The purpose of this plan is to guide Mr. Reese's work during this year as Interim Superintendent, as well as launch the District as a whole into a broad Strategic Planning process. Of course, the lack of a comprehensive District-level Strategic Plan was a short-coming noted in last year's DESE report. This basically means that his primary task this year will be to deliver this plan by the end of the school year. Here's how the Entry Plan describes the final phase of his process:

Beginning in February, a strategic planning committee will be established and will meet to review the key findings and to develop a strategic planning document. The strategic plan will utilize data to highlight the current status of the schools in meeting the needs of our students. This data will be used as the baseline for establishing measurable goals, the action steps that will be taken to achieve those goals, the individual(s) responsible for implementation/ monitoring of progress, and the ways in which progress will be measured. This plan will be presented to the school committee, school staff and the community in June 2016. [emphasis mine] 

Mr. Reese asked me what my priorities were for the District in the current year. Speaking as a Councilor (and less as a parent with a child at CES), they are:

• Prioritized, coordinated and strategic responses to the myriad reports and findings that have landed in the past year 
• Enhanced communication with the City Council (suggested a regular memo addressing budget/finance issues and progress addressing the various reports) 
• Improved budget process and budget documentation 

I was able to spend a few minutes with our Assistant Superintendent, Deirdre Farrell, as well. They have a lot on their plates but both were upbeat about the coming year. Mr. Reese's Entry Plan sketches out an ambitious program of listening, dialogue and information gathering from a multitude of stakeholders between now and January. For the time being, the wind coming from the community and from the City Council is positive and I hope that as a District and a community we can work together to support this comprehensive strategic plan development. The Plan won't be done in time to fully inform the school's next budget, but I hope that this process can help guide the budget process nonetheless, in terms of priorities and strategies in a constrained financial environment.

What I Do and Why

I've had great opportunities in my career and life to work and serve in the communities where I live and currently, across the country.  I want to talk about some of what I have done for a living, what I've learned, and how I think these experiences have been and would be reflected by me as a Municipal Councilor.

2012 Town Park Playground Build; it was just a little rainy!

I have always been interested in public service and the nuts and bolts of government. In college, I interned in my Congressman's Washington, DC office. I graduated from Gordon College in Wenham, MA with a major in Political Studies and spent the summer of my senior year traveling with a study group to Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, back when the Soviet Union still existed. 

From there, I went to graduate school at the University of Virginia for Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Religion and Literature. Before and after graduate school, I spent time working with homeless individuals and families here on the North Shore of Boston. On a daily basis, I was working with individuals and families who were struggling with poverty, mental illness, HIV/AIDS, addiction, systematic marginalization, and high housing costs. I ended up pursuing a career in social work and community development, rather than in teaching.

In 2001, I started working in Boston for an organization that worked with local governments and non-profits around New England to plan, develop and manage supportive housing for very low income people living with HIV/AIDS.

'Green' roof, Whipple Riverview Place, Ipswich MA

I also joined the Board of a North Shore affordable housing organization, the North Shore Housing Trust (which eventually merged with Harborlight Community Partners, in Beverly). While I was involved, we completed a affordable home-ownership project in Gloucester and the preservation and renovation of a historical Ipswich property as a 'green' elderly affordable housing building, complete with a soil roof, to prevent run-off into the Ipswich River.

Revision Urban Farm, Dorchester MA

Most recently, I worked as the Director of Housing for a large sheltering organization in Boston, Victory Programs, where I oversaw an urban farm. two family shelters (one, for mothers in recovery), transitional housing, and permanent housing facilities, serving hundreds of homeless and formerly homeless households a year. And I managed several million dollars in annual budgets and more in capital assets.

Now, I'm working remotely from home for a company (Cloudburst Group) that supports local and state government around the country in planning and running effective systems of services and housing for homeless and at-risk of homelessness households.

So, I tried out academia and it was not for me. What was 'for me' was digging in with people to learn about their goals and their challenges. Working with them as they navigated forward. Changing systems and resources to be more responsive to the needs of the community and its more vulnerable members. Looking at what 'is' and being a part of developing lasting solutions ('what can be'). I've learned that healthy, sustainable communities are made up of many parts and that it takes a lot of care and attention to keep them healthy. I've learned the importance of operating from your principles and of being willing to adapt those principles, the more you know and learn. And finally, I know that the number one asset that a community has going for it is its own caring and engaged citizens. Whether it's working on a zoning ordinance, helping build a playground or trail bridge, or digging through budgets and audits, it is that care and engagement that I bring to the table and have to offer.

Tax Increment Finance - DesignWerkes, Inc.

The City Council has been presented with a second Tax Increment Finance (TIF) proposal by Mayor Gray. (The first, you will recall, was for the new hotel going up on Elm St., by Stop and Shop, approved last summer. You can read my blog post about that proposal HERE.)

TIFs are a tool authorized under Mass. General Law that enables municipalities to offer businesses and property owners exemption in part (or full, for that matter) from municipal property taxes, for a defined period of time. NOTE: the exemption is applied to the increased value on the improved property, not on the base value, which the City will collect either way. You can learn more about TIFs HERE.

The basic idea is that Amesbury can offer exemption from property taxes to a business or property owner in exchange for some perceived economic benefit to the City.

In 2014, the City Council approved TIF guidelines for the City of Amesbury that defined where in town and under what circumstances the City would consider offering a TIF incentive to a business or property owner.

Steven Kille, CEO of DesignWerkes, Inc., 8/4/15 Site Visit

This particular request comes from Steven Kille, owner of DesignWerkes, Inc. DesignWerkes is a design and machining shop that has operated in Amesbury for about 20 years. The company is currently located at the Boston North Technology Park on Rt. 110 (just west of Leo's Super Bowl) and employs about 25 people.

It has been a very fast moving request and process. On July 24, the Council President announced a Special City Council meeting for July 28, to be held immediately before the regularly scheduled Finance Committee meeting. We met and referred the measure to the Finance Committee meeting that took place minutes later. Economic and Community Development Director Bill Scott gave us a presentation on the request; Mr. Kille also spoke to us. Both answered our questions about the proposal. We are scheduled to take a final vote on the TIF agreement this Thursday, August 6. (Tight timing is in an effort to get in the State's pipeline for their consideration and approval of the TIF, which is part of the process.)

You can read Mayor Gray and Mr. Scott's cover letters, along with the details of the TIF application HERE.

My initial reaction to this project was the same that I think should be brought to any TIF request (this is the City's second): "Why should this business/property owner get a break on their property taxes when other businesses/owners don't and won't get a break?" One of the guiding principles of Amesbury's TIF standards is: But for this support from the City, this project would never happen.

In this case, Mr. Kille is looking to move from Boston North to a vacant industrial building at 2 Industrial Way (off Monroe St. and on the same campus of Amesbury's very active medical marijuana grow site). He is hoping to expand significantly, tripling his potential production space and adding new production lines and large machines. His company focuses on manufacturing key components in the conversion drives within hybrid municipal buses. The demand for his product outstrips his current capacity and he's looking to expand rapidly.

Machined product in production, from 8/4/15 site visit

All noble and good but again, why this property and why this business?

In this case, for me, the compelling argument FOR granting this TIF property tax exemption is not as much about the business story (which is an excellent story, by the way; Mr. Kille is very passionate about his business). Rather, it is about the site at 2 Industrial Way.

If you drive by 2 Industrial Way, you'll see that it has become something of an eyesore and a dump and this right at the entry way to one of Amesbury's few industrial parks. The building is literally falling apart. It has laid fallow for a good number of years (I can't speak to why or why not the current owners have not been able to lease it or why they haven't kept up with this investment).

Mr. Kille is basically proposing to invest substantially in this property to not only get it to code (again, it's literally falling apart) but to upgrade all of its energy-related systems to current state of art technology for energy efficiency.

What's the projected value of the tax exemption in this TIF? $191,368, spread out over 15 years. (75% of property tax is exempt in first 5 years, 35% in the second 5 years, and 10% in the final 5 years.) Actual value could go up or down, depending on future valuation of the property and future property tax rates.

What's in it for the City? Retaining and creating good paying and benefited jobs. As part of the TIF deal, the business must expand to 40 employees within 5 years. Also, a low-performing industrial property that has failed to attract use and investment in recent years receives significant capital investment and increases in overall value.

What about the property that DesignWerkes is leaving? Is this just robbing Peter to pay Paul? Boston North enjoys a decent occupancy rate and DesignWerkes is one of dozens of companies that do business at the Park. Their leaving should not negatively affect the value of that property (DesignWerkes leases space at Boston North).

What if DesignWerkes fails to perform or moves? The TIF agreement, like the one with the hotel, will have claw-back provisions that protect the City if the TIF's designee fails to perform in some manner.

So, the City gains at least 15 new jobs in the community and, most importantly, sees an under-utilized property revitalized and expanded. In my own assessment, the City gains more than it gives up in this deal and it is a good example of the ways in which a local government can support businesses that might otherwise leave or never choose to locate in Amesbury.