It’s not getting any brighter….

A frontpage article in today’s (5/06/09) Republican newspaper (read the full story) paints a still gloomier picture of the state’s financial condition which could have a very large impact on Longmeadow’s FY09 and FY10 budgets.

Here are some quotes from the article….
- “Senators will be building their fiscal 2010 budget on an estimate that the state will collect $18.1 billion in revenues, nearly $1.5 billion less than the number used by the state House of Representatives.”

- “Senators may cut state aid to cities and towns more than the House.”

In an online Boston Globe article yesterday, it was reported that April state revenues were $456 million below expectations and the deficit for the remaining 3 months in FY2009 are now expected to drop $963 million below expections.

According to Michael Widmer, president of the Mass Taxpayers Foundation, the state may need to use up to $800 million from state’s rainy day fund to balance the the current FY2009 budget leaving only $500 million for FY2010.

Last week’s Town Meeting decision to vote on the FY2010 budget even though accurate numbers on state aid for Longmeadow were not available may not have been the right choice. At Town Meeting it was thought that because of revenue shortfalls, our FY2010 revenue would be $600,000 (or more) short of the FY2010 budget spending levels.

Because it looked like FY2010 state aid was going to be reduced further and create an even larger deficit the Longmeadow School Committee recommended that we “adjourn” the vote on the FY2010 budget until the Town Meeting was reconvened on June 2 so that additional state aid information could be assessed and the FY2010 budget adjusted if necessary.

Christine Swanson, Chairperson explained the logic of June 2 date selection as follows:

• If the Town Meeting voted and approved the budget on April 28, the Longmeadow School Department would have only two weeks (--> May 12) to issue potential “layoff notices” to teachers.
• June 2 was before the Annual Town Elections (June 9) so that the current town leaders (Select Board and School Committee) would be the making the needed budget corrections. In addition, there would be sufficient time before June 15- the latest date for teacher layoff notifications.

While SelectBoard chairman Paul Santaniello was in favor of adjournment of the budget vote, the Select Board was split (Santaniello/Barkett --> favored postponing vote, Grady/Scibelli --> against postponing vote) so the Select Board did not have a recommendation for the Town Meeting to consider.

Select Person Kathy Grady as well as a number of Town Meeting members felt that it was unlikely that even on June 2 there would not be much additional information on state aid and because we have $2 million in the Operational Stabilization Fund (aka “rainy day” fund) that we could use it if necessary to fund any town revenue shortfalls.

The Finance Committee also supported the recommendation by the School Committee for adjournment on the budget vote. Chairman Mark Barowsky also emphasized that the town should not be so quick to count on the Operation Stabilization Fund because it was his opinion at that time that the state’s financial condition and funding for FY2009 and FY2010 was going to continue to worsen.

I have been writing about this impending financial crisis since early January (see 1/16/09 post- A Financial Tsunami is Heading Toward Us! and things have only gotten much worse since then.
At that time I asked “What are town leaders (Select Board/ Town Manager + School Committee) doing right now to prepare for the tsunami wave that has already been formed in Boston and is heading west towards us?

Comment: It would appear that we have experienced additional financial “aftershocks” in Boston and a financial tsunami is still heading our way!

Despite the uptick since March in the stock market and calmer financial markets, it is likely that unemployment will continue to increase (a lagging indicator of the economy) and state + local revenues will continue to erode for some time- probably well into 2010. It seems to me that prudent fiscal policy for Longmeadow would be to use the Operational Stabilization Fund only as a last resort. If FY2010 appears to be a difficult year, FY2011 may be even worse and it would be prudent to have some remaining financial resources to soften any hardship.

A couple of additional issues….

1. There are no cost of living adjustments (school or town employees) included with the FY2010 budget that was voted at last week’s Annual Town Meeting. With both town employee and school department teachers contracts expiring in June and August, there is a potential increase in overall costs of $300,000 with every % increase in COLA.

2. Based upon what I heard at the town meeting, it would appear that next Tuesday, May 12 (also the Select Board preliminary run-off election) is the last day for the School Department to issue layoffs notices. If there are none issued, there can be no teacher layoffs in FY2010.

A couple of questions for our town leaders….

1. When will the collective bargaining agreements with the teachers union as well as the fire and police unions be signed? Will they include any cost of living adjustments?

2. Given all of the FY2010 budget uncertainties, will there be any teacher layoff notices issued before the May 12 deadline?

3. How do you plan to balance the FY09 and FY10 budgets? Are we going to simply use the “rainy day” fund and not worry at this time about future financial revenue shortfalls?

Tonight is the Select Board forum at Glenbrook Middle School (7 PM) in which eight candidates currently running for Select Board will be participating- three of which will be elected and be deeply involved with our FY2009 and FY2010 budget problems.

Take the time to attend the meeting, ask a question or simply watch the broadcast on LCTV. See the event notice for additional information on this important forum.

Speaking about political signs....

The look of election campaign signs is pretty predictable as shown below in a sampling of the current group that are now appearing on front lawns around town.

If you haven't already noticed, there is a candidate running for Select Board who has taken a very different approach to campaign signs. Here are couple of those signs...

There is even one with "reflectors" for good measure...

According to Eleanor Stolar these signs are made from recycled campaign signs, a little bit of spray paint and some creative genius by a campaign worker.

"I said I would not spend any money ( mine or anyone else's)... my friend (Janet) had an old sign and she re-painted it and put in front of my home, and so it began.. a few other people gave Janet old signs, different sizes and a painter gave her several cans of left over paints and she re-painted different colors and sizes. Janet as done a great job, each is a masterpiece!"

"I think that there may be 12 or 15 out there. All are recycled .. I did purchase few cans of spray paint (white and black) from Home Depot @ 97 cents a can."

What does citizenship ask of us?

Alex Grant, Longmeadow resident and Assistant U.S. Attorney, wrote a column in this week's Longmeadow News that skillfully and accurately describes the now infamous confiscation of political signs from a political booth at last year's Long Meddowe Days event on the town green. The quality of his legal analysis befits a U.S. Justice Department attorney and the accuracy of his description of the confrontation on the green, he admits in the column, is due to the fact that he was there to witness the whole thing.

As I read Alex's artful prose, admiring even the less flattering (though entirely accurate) characterizations of my demeanor that day, I first thought how fortunate it was that he was there to see it. After reflecting on the incident some more, I realized that dozens of people were there to witness this confrontation. While Mr. Grant was likely the only federal official sworn to support and defend the Constitution, there were other attorneys in the crowd as well as many well educated adults.

It wasn't until I finished reading Mr. Grant's column that I fully grasped how alone I was in that crowd. In fact, the only intercessions made by citizens that day (other than my own intemperate one) were by folks urging me to be quiet and to avoid making a scene. I recall one women quietly assuring me that she and others in the crowd agreed with me, but that I was not taking the right tact. So why then didn't one of these folks take a different tact to prevent this violation of one of our most cherished principles as Americans? Why didn't Mr. Grant present his credentials and seek to explain the situation to the police on the scene? Why didn't anyone do anything during or after the confiscation? Before this incident I had written and lectured many times about the dangers of so-called "Spectator Democracy" but had not experienced it so acutely.

On Memorial Day weekend we celebrate our town's place in American history and honor the huge sacrifices of our fallen warriors who died defending our way of life. What if they had decided not to defend our nation because they were not certain they were right, or because doing so would have spoiled their day and possibly made them look bad? Waving flags at Fourth of July parades, bowing our heads at Memorial Day remembrances, and applauding Revolutionary War re-enactments are gestures of respect and admiration for heroic citizenship past. These gestures are, however, rendered hollow when we let doubt, inconvenience, or embarrassment prevent us from doing our very small part when duty calls.

The only significant way to honor our way of life is to live it, and to defend it when we can, as best we can.

Massachusetts State Parks and Mystic Aquarium Passes

The Storrs Library in Longmeadow is participating in the Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Use Nature As Your Library program. This program allows library patrons to borrow a ParksPass and visit Massachusetts state parks for free. The Library is also a participant in the Mystic Aquarium Institute for Exploration library pass program. This program allows the pass users to save on the admission price to the Aquarium. The Passes for both programs are available at the Circulation Desk. For more information call 565-4181.

Finance Committee Public Forum

On April 7 I attended a Finance Committee Public Forum about the FY10 budget in order to get a better understanding of the financial difficulties that our town is facing. I was pretty disappointed with the poor attendance for this forum. In addition to the Finance Committee members and Rob Aseltine representing the School Committee, there was a total of two town residents including myself in attendance.

While there was not a formal presentation or overview of the FY10 budget, a number of specific subjects were discussed that provided me with a clearer picture of the financial issues facing the town of Longmeadow.

Below are some highlights from this meeting…

• One of the largest and fastest growing segments of the town budget is the money allocated to Special Education (SPED). According to Rob Aseltine, approximately $10 million out of a total FY2010 budget of ~ $52 million is spent on SPED services and these costs are escalating at a rate of ~ 8-10% year. This increase in SPED costs every year pretty much consumes the allowable 2½% increase in revenues from property taxes. For FY2010, increased property taxes (limited by Proposition 2½) amounted to ~ $1 million over FY2009 vs. $800,000 increase in SPED costs.
  
• Mr. Aseltine summarized the status of the federal stimulus money that was recently announced by Governor Patrick (see Springfield Republican article). The town of Longmeadow will be receiving approximately $418,000 for use with SPED. According to Mr. Aseltine, 50% of this money must be used for SPED program enhancements while the other 50% could be used for direct SPED costs. According to the news article, 50% of this money was to be disbursed to the towns by the end of April and other 50% in the Fall 2009.
  
• At this point in the meeting there was considerable debate led by Chair- Mark Barowsky suggesting that at least a portion of this federal grant be allocated to town services since a signficant portion of the SPED program is funded by money from the General Fund. Mr. Aseltine argued that a major portion of this money be “invested” to improve the efficiency of delivering SPED services through the implementation of a new program called “Response to Invention”. RTI is a method of academic intervention used in the United States designed to provide early, effective assistance to children who are having difficulty learning. The ultimate goal would be to at least significantly reduce the rate of change for delivering SPED services.
  
• It is interesting to note that Robin Crosbie, Town Manager made a similar recommendation about the cost of SPED services in a LongmeadowBuzz commentary last year and was soundly rebuked by members of the Longmeadow School Committee.
  
  Here is an excerpt from her posting....
  "Now that I am on the topic of special education, let me say that residents, including parents of special needs students, have expressed concerns to me about the effectiveness and costs of the special education program. No one doubts or disputes the intentions and commitment of the school department to serving these students and families. But it may be time for the town to fund an outside managment study of the organization and effectiveness of pupil services. System assessments, whether of human or capital infrastructure, can be very helpful in seeing the big picture, developing specific remedies and recommending long-term planning and funding.” Robin Crosbie, Town Manager
  
• Combine the increase in SPED costs + the significant reduction in state aid for Longmeadow for both the current FY2009 as well as FY2010, there is no room for salary increases for the town’s 650 employees without a significant reduction in town services. With most of the town employee labor contracts still being negotiated, there is considerable uncertainty about the level of town services for FY2010.
  
  There are no cost of living adjustments (school or town) included with the FY2010 budget to be voted on at next week’s Annual Town Meeting. With town employee and school department teachers contracts expiring in June and August, there is a potential increase in overall costs of $300,000 with every % increase in COLA.
  
  The Longmeadow School Committee is meeting next Monday night (April 27) in executive session to discuss “strategy with respect to collective bargaining”. Is it possible that all or a portion of the $417,000 in federal stimulus money will be used by the School Committee will be used to provide a COLA adjustments to the teacher’s contract?

I am hoping that the teachers and town employee unions will agree to a 0% COLA for at least one year. We need our town employees and teachers to help maintain the quality of life and education in our town. We also need to recognize the difficult financial circumstances that lie ahead and plan accordingly.

Everyone should plan to attend the Annual Town Meeting on Tuesday, April 28 at 7 PM in the Longmeadow HS gymnasium.

Longmeadow Audit Committee Vacancies

Readers may well recall a number of embarrassing and costly misdeeds committed by municipal and agency officials in our region in recent years.

How could such abuses occur? Investigations showed that insufficient policies, procedures, oversight, and internal controls were key in some way.

For most residents, “audit” means checking the accuracy of accounting entries and financial statements. But egregious financial abuses in the private sector about 10 years ago (Enron, Tyco, Worldcom are names one might recall) made it clear that lax operational controls, not strictly financial controls, entailed risks that had dire consequences for financial survivability. A new term, enterprise risk management, suggests the broadened nature of today’s audit activities.

The Longmeadow Charter Transition Team provided details to govern the Audit Committee created under section 7-9 of the Longmeadow Charter. The section Duties of the Audit Committee lists:

• Recommends and evaluates the independent auditor for the town.
  Encourages and recommends an audit plan base on town-wide (including schools) risk assessment developed by department heads and the town manager.
• Reviews annual financial statements of the town financial offices and the independent auditors financial recommendations.
• Reviews the efficacy of internal fiscal controls and encourages corrective action on those control or accounting issues identified in the independent auditor’s “management letter”.
• Reviews the Town’s bonded indebtedness and makes recommendations for maintaining desired bond rating.
• Recommends the use of special counsel or experts to assist in study work.
• Is a resource to the Select Board and School Committee on financial issues.
• Surfaces opportunities for cost and efficiency improvements.
• Orients new members and encourages continued education of its members.

While the Audit Committee is strictly advisory, this lists of duties indicates the Committee can have a major influence on the operations and financial stability of the Town.

The Audit Committee has two voting Member vacancies and two non-voting Associate Member vacancies to be filled on July 1 of this year. Residents with experience in accounting, finance, law or general management are urged to apply. It’s a great spot from which to get to know your town government and to help make it more effective.

You can learn more about the Audit Committee on the town website and the Longmeadow Community Bulletin Board where you can find the Annual Committee/ Board Vacancy Notice with an application form and other information.

Applications must be received at the Select Board office by 4:00 p.m. May 11, 2009.

Ernest Welker, ChairLongmeadow Audit Committee

Community Preservation Act- Article 28

Article 28 at the Longmeadow Town Meeting will reduce the Community Preservation Surcharge from 1% to 0.25%.

While I, like most people, would love to reduce my taxes, approving this article would be very shortsighted. Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds allow us to do projects which would otherwise not get done.
[see Annual Town Meeting warrant]

Last year Town Meeting approved six projects using CPA funds. These projects are completed or in the process of being completed. We were able to provide new recreational opportunities at the Senior Center, complete exterior work on the Community House, and preserve historic town records and pictures. Without CPA funds, all of these projects would have had to use other town resources or raise private funds. In the case of the town records and images, waiting would have potentially lost them forever.

This year Town Meeting has four new projects on the warrant. One of these is to complete a project started with private funds to remove an invasive weed from the Fannie Stebbins Memorial Wildlife Refuge. Without these funds, the project would not be completed and the results acheived to date would be lost in a short time. We could potentially lose a beautiful town resource.
[see the 2008 CPC applications for additional information about the four proposed projects]

What projects will the future bring?
There are more town records to be preserved. The Housing Authority is developing ideas to help seniors stay in their homes. The town is working on a complete plan to renovate the Community House. The Town Hall may also need renovations. While I hope Twin Hills is successful as a private golf course, if it is not, the Town has the right of first refusal to purchase the property. Any one of these last three projects would require a substantial investment. The CPA surcharge allows us to have the funds available if we need them. We can collect the funds with a small surcharge over time and receive matching funds from the state, rather than require a large tax increase at one time with no state match.

What will you save if the surcharge is reduced? The average homeowner will save $34 a year.

What will we lose? The town will lose $75,000 annually in state matching funds.

Article 28 is supposed to save us money. In reality, it will cost us money. More importantly, it will cost us the ability to continue to preserve our town’s resources. Please vote NO on Article 28 at the Town Meeting on April 28th.

Bill Hoff
Chairperson- Longmeadow Community Preservation Committee

Here is the rest of the story....

In this morning's Springfield Republican Local section there was a short item about a lawsuit between the Town of Longmeadow and a Longmeadow homeowner involving a "stone wall" zoning bylaw issue that according to court records has been in litigation since 2005.

 

Here is a quote from yesterday's ruling by the Massachusetts State Court of Appeals...

Background facts and proceedings
"We summarize the essential and undisputed facts. The plaintiff's two-family residence sits on a six-sided corner lot at Longmeadow Street and Fernleaf Avenue in Longmeadow. The front and side yards of the lot are maintained as lawn space; the angled strip of back yard is heavily wooded. In 2004, the plaintiff constructed an approximately two-foot high, L-shaped stone wall on his front and side yards, adjacent to Longmeadow Street and Fernleaf Avenue. Bordering streets are heavily trafficked and the plaintiff constructed the wall to provide an enclosed play area for his tenant's children. As the parties agreed and the judge found, "the wall, at its closest points, is approximately seventy feet from Longmeadow Street and forty feet from Fernleaf Avenue. The wall does not interfere with drivers' visibility from either street." Construction was nearly complete when the town's building commissioner notified the plaintiff that the fence was in violation of art. IV, § K, of the by-law because it was within the primary setback of the residence. After receiving the notice, the plaintiff briefly ceased construction but thereafter completed construction of the wall and then applied for a variance to allow it to remain in place. The board denied the application, and the plaintiff appealed to Superior Court, pursuant to G.L. c. 40A, § 7. Prior to commencement of the trial, his counsel requested a ruling that "the evidence supports a finding that the Zoning Bylaw can reasonably be interpreted to allow the stone wall as constructed without a variance."

Yesterday's Massachusetts Court of Appeals ruling: "Because the plaintiff's wall is not nearer than forty feet to the line of either street upon which his lot fronts, he is entitled to build his wall as of right and a variance is not necessary."

I suspect that this lawsuit has cost the town of Longmeadow a significant amount of money. As I read the court ruling it seemed that the town's zoning bylaw had some significant language and clarity issues (from yesterday's court ruling- "The by-law is not a model of clarity.")

The Town of Longmeadow lost the initial contest in Massachusetts Superior Court wherein the judge determined that "the board's denial of the variance was unreasonable."

Given that stone walls are a key part of the New England landscape and this particular stone wall fit very nicely into its surroundings... one would guess that it has been there for a long time.

It seems that this entire episode was a waste of the town precious financial resources and a variance should have been granted to the homeowner.

Q & A with Kathy Grady

What's the story with the Town Manager's contract?

The Town Manager’s contract has been approved by the Select Board. It is a 3-year contract with a 0% raise until June 30, 2010. Yes, 0%. (And the Town Manager gets no steps so that is a real 0.) As many employees and employers are deciding this year, job security is more important than a raise. Any future raises are at the discretion of the Select Board. Contract approval followed the Chair’s reading of a summary of the individual members' evaluations of the Town Manager’s performance. There was unanimity that the Town Manager does an excellent job in the day-to-day operations of the town. Some members had concerns about communication. The most important impact of this contract agreement may be with the department heads and bargaining units in town. It sets a sound example of how to deal with a very uncertain fiscal future.

Will there be a big budget fight on the floor of Town Meeting?

So far, it does not look like it. The Select Board has agreed to give an additional $117,000 in free cash to balance the School Department’s 2010 budget provided the School Department returns unexpended funds from the current budget. In addition, the Select Board, at the request of the School Committee, took $150,000 set aside in the Capital Budget for painting Center School and transferred it to the schools to prevent some of the layoffs. Both boards have approved this budget. The Finance Committee will make its recommendation on the floor of town meeting. Hopefully, peace will prevail.

How much are my water and sewer bills going up and why?

Water and sewer bills are going up because of capital needs. The basic operating costs will not be higher than the current year. But we have a system that is very, very, VERY old in many parts, with some pipes 90 years old. A study last year by Tighe and Bond showed that it would cost many millions of dollars to do what needs to be done. We can’t do it all anytime soon, but we must start.

The Select Board had before it a proposal that called for a substantial investment in capital improvements ($5,000,000 the first year). Of course, these needs would be bonded over 20 years so the real cost per year is hundreds of thousands of dollars, not millions. Still, given the financial problems of the town and the residents, the Select Board postponed most of these projects. There was strong agreement that we should invest in radio-read meters. Once these meters are installed, they can be read in one long day by having a staff person drive slowly down each street while the meter sends the usage information to the laptop in the car. Then, when rates do go up, everyone’s go up on the same day. Quarterly billing is a possibility. Leak detection will improve. Most important, we will all be more confident that our billing is correct. In addition, a couple of small capital projects were also approved. The others will have to be phased in, probably one at a time. UNLESS, we get stimulus money.

Another budget item was additional money for a reserve fund for water and sewer. In the proposal, it was set at a percentage of operating costs. The need for an emergency reserve is clear, especially with so many unmet capital needs. We have all seen the emergency water main breaks and sewer backups around town. The Select Board decided to ask for $5 each for water and sewer to build up a reserve fund. This amount will be added to the current $10 administrative cost which appears on each bill.

So, with these decisions made, we knew the amount of money that must be raised through the rates. How the rates are structured raises many questions. Should the rate for water increase with usage (a conservation rate)? Should there be a flat rate for having water and sewer service at all? Flat rates that have been proposed are $186 or $360 each year per household. The conservation rate would disproportionately affect high users; the flat rate would disproportionately affect low users. The Select Board decided to stay with a single rate, as we now have, and raise it by the amount needed to meet the budget. The result is that the charge per 100 cubic feet of water will increase from $1.76 to $2.11, and the charge for sewer will remain at $2.50 with a cap of 220 units.

Should there be a separate elected water and sewer commission as is proposed on the Town Meeting warrant?

Over the past three years the Select Board has had advice from three groups of experts: a paid consultant group, a citizen group of mainly financial people, and a group made up of our DPW experts, the Chief Financial Officer and the Town Manager. We learned different things from each report, and each was valuable. However, only the Select Board takes into account all the factors affecting citizens, including the burden of property taxes and user fees (all of which are set by the Select Board). I think it is not a good idea to set up a separate board which would look narrowly at the water and sewer system or narrowly at specific financing approaches.

What about that pergola?

In the summer of 2007 the town was offered two big gifts: an irrigation system for playing fields at Turner Park and a pergola memorial on a traffic island near the cemetery. At that point the Select Board realized that even though we have gotten many gifts and donations over the years, there was no clear policy with guidelines for accepting them. We then adopted a gift and donation policy in August [available on the Select Board web page at www.longmeadow.org ]. The biggest issue with both of these new gifts was maintenance. Would these gifts cost the town in money or labor? Materials and methods were negotiated with the givers to protect the town from such costs, and agreements were signed.

For myself, I thought the idea of having a bench and a resting place was a good one, and I would like to see more benches around town for walkers and runners. As for dedicating it to a specific individual, this is an established practice in Longmeadow. Both playgrounds were gifts and bear the names of an individual and a company. The Bliss pool was renamed for an individual as was the flag stand at the high school, rooms in the library, and countless streets.

As always, I welcome your questions and will answer them to the best of my ability. Opinions and mistakes are wholly mine.

Kathy Grady

Longmeadow Candidates

The candidates for Longmeadow Selectboard and School Committee are hereby invited to appear on LCTVs "Put up Your Duqs" to discuss their candidacies and the future of our town. If any candidate wants to appear, but is uncomfortable with the host, I will arrange for a guest host in consultation with the candidate.

Elections are supposed to be conversations. Without community-wide communication elections cannot provide policy makers with the direction and instruction that they must for our community to move forward.

Candidates should contact Mr. Duquette at jeroldduquette@comcast.net to schedule an appearance.