local aid

The economic prognosticators were out in force at a hearing on Beacon Hill, predicting how high/low fiscal year 2013 revenues might be.  Predictions ranged from $21.7 billion, an increase of 3.2 percent (Amy Pitter, commissioner of the state Department of Revenue), to $22.28 billion, an increase of 4.1 percent ( David G. Tuerck, executive director of the Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University in Boston), with other predictions in between.  These predictions still leave the Commonwealth with a budget shortfall. [Full Article: Mass live.com]

Sen. Stephen M. Brewer, a Barre Democrat and chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, said that tax revenue growth for fiscal 2013 is unlikely to be enough to compensate for cuts in federal grants and reimbursements or growth in items such as the state's $10.4 billion Medicaid program. Brewer said it will be difficult to avoid some spending cuts in the state budget for the next fiscal year.

"It appears like it's going to be a very sobering year," Brewer said after the hearing. "There may be in excess of $1 billion (gap) between expected revenues and needs. The revenues are growing but not to the needs of the line items. We have a lot of tough choices to make."

Jay Gonzalez, state secretary for administration and finance, said he could not make any commitments to any spending levels in the budget including state aid to communities. He said nothing is sacrosanct at this point...."Everything is on the table again this year," Gonzalez said after the hearing. "It's another challenging year."

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation issued its latest report on the state of municipal budgets [Full Article: The Boston Globe].  There are no real surprises...that is if you have been paying attention to the economy, discussions in the State House regarding revenues and budget cuts, and watching your own city or town lose employees.  The surprises may be the magnitude of the unfunded pension and health funds that were measurable and promised as part of employment...that's unconscionable.

Our families and our communities need investments in the services, schools, and infrastructure that make Massachusetts a great place to live and work.  How will this happen?  In order to make the necessary investments, we need to raise significant revenues.  Governor Cuomo in New York has taken the lead, as has Governor Brown in California...That revenue should come primarily from the highest income earners.

“The numbers demonstrate just how difficult this recession and fiscal crisis have been for cities and towns,’’ said Michael J. Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. “Their revenues have been virtually flat, while their costs have grown, which has meant cuts in schools, public safety, and other basic services for most cities and towns.’’

“These are challenging times,’’ said Michael V. O’Brien, the Worcester city manager. “The global economy, the national economy, and the regional economy have all suffered in the downturn, so the revenues aren’t there for the state to distribute.’’

Another good headline from Wicked Local in Ashland, announcing that their Legisative Delegation, led by Senator Karen Spilka and Rep Tom Sannicandro had worked hard to make sure they kept some promises .

In part it reads ... ( I love the amount.  Coulda been $83, 701.50 but I bet they rounded it up.) 

Ashland $82,702 What it means

The casino legislation is now in conference committee.  One point to reconcile is how to distribute some of these casino revenues to fund public education in communities throughout the Commonwealth.  It's important what the formula will be.

Both the House and Senate versions of the casino legislation would devote 14 percent of all casino taxes to schools. The House bill would distribute that money statewide, based on a formula Massachusetts uses in doling out money to cities and towns.

But a Senate amendment that was overwhelmingly approved last week would put a priority on distributing the casino money to 165 of the state’s 400 school districts that are considered underfunded, based on a plan the state passed five years ago to help suburban districts...Schools in some of the state’s wealthiest communities, including Wellesley, Lexington, and Dover, would get millions of dollars in casino money while some of the poorest districts, including Boston, Brockton, and Holyoke, would get nothing...  [Full Article: The Boston Globe]

In the past three years, Lawrence lost $12 - $15 million in local aid.  The lack of these funds have severe reprecussions. Lawrence lost one-third of their police ranks due to these budget cuts and layoffs , so consequently when emergency services recently were faced with a large and unruly crowd, they were forced to call in reinforcements from the state and another town to assist in handling the situation. Clearly Lawrence residents have been adversely affected by State and Municipal budget cuts.  It seems they don't have what we all strive for - a safe community to live and work. We all need to work to change this...all communities in MA should be safe to live and work, supporting healthy families, and with the opportunity for providing quality education for all our children.

"I feel pretty positive we will be able to restore some of those cuts," [State Rep. David] Torrisi said. "It's not consolation to the people suffering right now, but we're trying our best to deliver the resources."  [Full Article: Eagle-Tribune]

Closing necessary firehouses and cutting local programs and services important for our communities should not happen in our state due to a lack of resources. It is time to take leadership and change the discussion about how we plan to raise revenue to pay for the structures that we all care about:

The fire house study committee has decided, after three months of meetings, interviews and review, that the town is a safer place with all three of its fire stations open. “This committee recommends that the town should strive at all times to have three stations open in the best interests of our citizens,” the report said, adding, “We are a study committee and take no position on how to advise the town on resource allocation.” [Full Article: Enterprise News]

Like the House and Senate budgets, the version crafted by the conference committee relies primarily on cuts as savings to close a $1.9 billion budget gap. It also relies on some temporary revenues including approximately $200 million from the state’s rainy day fund. This preliminary analysis describes major items of difference between the House and Senate budget proposals and how they were resolved. It also reviews funding levels for major items in the budget where the House and Senate had not disagreed, and provides information about revenue issues in the budget.t....  [Full Report: Massachusetts Budget & Policy Center]