Longmeadow Choices for Select Board

There is a Special Town Election on Tuesday, May 15 to select a candidate to fulfill the remaining term ( 1 year) for the Select Board seat vacated by Christine Swanson who resigned earlier this year.  The two candidates are Mark Barowsky and Richard Foster. 

Below are two LCTV videos (Our Town/ hostess- Arlene Miller) with interviews of the two candidates.

 

 Mark Barowsky Interview

 

Richard Foster Interview

Both candidates are also listed on the Annual Town Elections ballot (June 12) for the two open seats.  In addition, Paul Santaniello is listed as well.  Because of Massachusetts state law, the winner of the May 15 election cannot be removed from the June 12 election ballot.

We have three candidates for three Select Board seats.  However, if Mr. Barowsky or Mr. Foster wins seats in both elections, there will be a need for another Special Election at a cost of $8-10,000.  The winning candidate can then choose which seat (1 year or 3 year term) they wish to fill.

With the School Committee elections on June 12, there are four candidates for four open seats (2- three year term, 1- two year term, and 1- one year term) leading to no contested races.

In any event, town residents should plan to vote in both elections (May 15 and June 12) to show support for these candidates. 

Kudos to both LCTV/Arlene Miller for providing
town residents with these candidate interviews.

Town voters need choices

It’s interesting to compare the town politics of East Longmeadow with Longmeadow.  While I’m the first to admit that I know very little about the politics in our neighboring town, I found it quite interesting this morning observing election campaign signs as I drove through the town.   

East Longmeadow’s Annual Town Elections are next week and there are a large number of campaign signs by current School Committee member Joseph Cabrera.  As you can see in the photo, Mr. Cabrera is seeking voter support as a write-in candidate since he lost in the preliminary election last month wherein 5 candidates were seeking 1 School Committee seat and he finished third.  Only the top two candidates are added to the election ballot.

Mr. Cabrera was an outspoken supporter of spending an additional $100K for new lights on the football stadium which was approved at a Special Town Meeting attended by only 400 voters.  This may be a possible reason for his lack of voter support in the preliminary election when 1000 out of 11,000 voters showed up at the polls.   It will be interesting to see how Mr. Cabrera fares as a write-in candidate in the town election next Tuesday, April 10.

In Longmeadow, the situation is quite different with 2 Select Board seats and 4 School Committee seats being essentially uncontested.  While there is a contested Special Election on May 15 to fill the one year seat vacated by Christine Swanson, both candidates are running again in the Annual Town Elections on June 12.

Earlier this year there were three appointments to School Committee seats (see earlier Buzz posts) in which Owen Humphries, James Desroshers and Katherine Girard were appointed. All three of these appointments were a result of resignations by School Committee members.

Over the past two years we have had a number of elected officials resign from the School Committee and Select Board.

One interesting note is that Gerard Kiernan applied for the three different School Committee vacancies over the past year and was not selected.  He is now running in the upcoming election for the open 1 year School Committee seat.  His recent experience shows that it is easier to get elected (or self appointed) than appointed in our town.

Below are the candidates in the upcoming Special Town Election on May 15 and Annual Town Elections on June 12. 

Special Town Election, May 15, 2012

Select Board - 1 one year seat (to fill seat vacated by Christine Swanson)

Mark Barowsky
Richard W. Foster

Annual Town Election, June 12, 2012

Select Board – 2 three year seats

Mark Barowsky
Paul Santaniello– candidate for re-election
Richard Foster

School Committee – 2 three year seats

Kathryn Girard
James Desrochers

School Committee – 1 two year seat

Elizabeth Bone

School Committee – 1 one year seat

Gerard Kiernan
___________________________________

Summary…  After the June town elections, we will have 4 out of 5 members of the Select Board who have run unopposed and 6 out of 7 members of the School Committee.

Jennifer Jester and Mark Gold are the only members of our town leaders who have been elected in a contested election.

I applaud the efforts of those individuals who have stepped up to the plate and are willing to commit their energies to our town.
 

However, if we are to be successful as a town with our current form of government, we need to be able to elect leaders that best represent our town residents.  Without choice at the ballot box on election day that will not likely be possible.

Senior Tax Relief- Part I

Back in October 2011 I posted a summary about a meeting at the Longmeadow Adult Center explaining a new tax relief measure that was being proposed by John Bowen and the Longmeadow Council on Aging.  This new measure was being based upon the Massachusetts Circuit Breaker Tax Credit.

After this meeting I did some research about the Circuit Breaker Tax Credit and found that the toughest qualification was being 65 years of age or older in order to be eligible to receive up to $980 from the state of Massachusetts.  The Circuit Breaker Tax Credit helps Massachusetts senior homeowners whose real estate taxes, sewer, and water bills combined consumed more than 10% of their total income.  The state also helps renters whose water, sewer, and 25% of the rent combined totaled more than 10% of their income.

Former State Representative Mary Rogeness of Longmeadow wrote in the Longmeadow News in 2001 after the law was passed:

“The Circuit Breaker is designed to provide property relief to low and moderate income senior Citizens through their income tax filing.”

As I continued to review the 10 year old Circuit Breaker Tax Credit, I discovered that it no longer appeared to solely meet its original targeted purpose of assisting seniors who are in financial need.

For example, a Longmeadow property owner with an annual income of $35,000 with a modest home assessed at $150,000 and a $500 water/sewer charge would qualify for $0.

In contrast a property owner with an annual income of $78,000 (married/filing jointly) with a house assessed at $729,000 and a water/sewer bill of $500 would receive the full $980 tax credit.

The circuit breaker tax credit is based upon the actual real estate taxes paid by a taxpayer who is eligible to claim the credit.  It is equal to the amount by which the taxpayer's property tax payments in the current tax year, including water and sewer charges exceeds 10 percent of the taxpayer's total income, up to a maximum credit amount for tax year 2011 of $980.

Below is a table showing the income (married/ filing jointly) and property assessment thresholds to obtain the full $980.

For a given income level, the above table shows the minimum assessed property value to obtain $980 maximum tax credit at different income levels.  This tax credit as structured provides tax relief to high as well as low annual income levels.

To qualify:

• you or your spouse must be age 65 or older by the end of the tax year 
• if married, you must file jointly 
• if you are a homeowner, your property's assessed value cannot be greater than $729,000 on January 1, 2011 
• you must meet the income limits

Your total income cannot be greater than these limits for the 2011 tax year:

•    $52,000 single
•    $65,000 head of household
•    $78,000 married filing jointly

"Total income" includes some types of non-taxable income, such as social security, retirement, pensions and annuities, cash public assistance, tax-exempt interest and dividends, and certain other income.

Check out this spreadsheet to see if you qualify for the Circuit Breaker Tax Credit.

Here is a link to some additional tax tips from the Mass.gov website
http://www.mass.gov/dor/docs/dor/taxtips/seniors11.pdf

Some interesting facts about the Massachusetts Senior Circuit Breaker Tax Credit…

1. In tax year 2009, the most recent tax year for which complete information is available, 80,566 taxpayers received $61.1 million in cash or credits used to lower income tax payments, an average of $759 per taxpayer.
   
   
2. For the tax year 2009, there were 353 Longmeadow taxpayers who received a total of $306,342 or an average of $868.

In Longmeadow there are almost 3000 town residents over 65 (2010 census) with a median household income of $45,900 (based upon 2005-2009 survey).  Based upon this information I would expect that there are many more senior citizens in our town that could qualify for this tax credit who are not doing so. 

Remember, you do not need to pay Massachusetts income taxes to receive a check.

Call your tax preparer today if you think that you might qualify!

If you are eligible, you can go back three years and claim the credit retroactively. If you owe tax, the credit is deducted from the amount owed. And if you don't owe tax, the state cuts you a check. It's worth taking a few minutes to do the math on this.

Here is a link to the 2011 Circuit Breaker Tax Form. 

John Bowen and the Council on Aging have redirected their efforts and submitted an article that will appear on the Annual Town Meeting warrant (by petition) which does not rely upon the same criteria as the Circuit Breaker Tax Credit.

Proposed FY2013 School Department Budget

The Longmeadow School Committee held a Public Forum on February 13 meeting to present the FY2013 school department budget and to hear comments from the public.

There were only 2 town residents (not counting School Dept and LCTV employees, SC members and a SB member) so I thought the information and some comments would be of interest to Buzz readers.



Below is a video clip (courtesy of LCTV) of the budget presentation by Marie Doyle.  Some of the slides are difficult to view in the video but they can be downloaded for easier reading....
FY2013 Budget Presentation--> http://bit.ly/xPWzZY
FY2013 Executive Budget Summary --> http://bit.ly/wQ2iGD

Some questions were asked by the two town residents in attendance.

I asked about the 2.6% increase in the General Fund sourcing requirements and FY2013 school department capital requests including the plan forward for IT spending.  Technology implementation- both hardware and professional headcount in the Longmeadow Schools is quickly becoming a major factor in our School Department budget.  A new technology capital plan has been written and is being reviewed by the School Committee members.  Kevin Warenda outlined a bold lease/ purchase approach that is part of this plan and which will accelerate our move toward the state guideline ratio of 1:1 student/ computer device (see video clip below, courtesy of LCTV).  There was no discussion of expected costs with this proposal.

Dave Gustafson asked about the $100K reduction in utility costs, made a couple of comments including one recommending that the School Committee be careful with the rapid deployment of technology in the schools.  He was concerned about the loss of critical thinking skills.

I asked about any provisions in the budget for teacher salary increases and COLAs.  The Longmeadow Teachers contract expires on August 31 and there is no new contract in place. The FY2013 budget does not include COLAs for teachers.  A 1% COLA for School Dept employees was estimated to cost ~$230K."  Contractual Step Increases for teachers are in the FY2013 budget and total ~ $259K.

 

Bottom line: The town's General Fund portion of the FY2013 school dept funding will increase by 2.6% or $786,134 due in part to funding reductions in Grants and Special Revenues.

On the town government side of the budget...

Through the efforts in the state legislature led by our State Representative, Brian Ashe, Longmeadow (as well as other communities) will likely be allowed to pay the unreinbursed cleanup costs from the "Halloween snowstorm" by issuing a 5 year bond at low interest rates.  Estimated unreimbursed costs are $3 million dollars... so it will be an additional budget cost of ~ $600K/ year.

Some members of the SB had expressed optimism that the total FY2013 budget could be held flat from last year in order to mitigate Part II of the increase in property taxes that will occur in FY2013 due to the new HS project.  It will be interesting to see how much increase there will be with the FY2013 budget that will be presented at the ATM for approval by town voters.

2012 Community Preservation Projects

The Longmeadow Community Preservation Committee (CPC) held a public hearing on January 23 at the Community House to hear citizen's comments regarding the proposed 2012 CPA projects.

There were only ~ 10 people in attendance (in addition to committee members) which is surprising given that there is approximately $1 million in the CPA funds for possible allocation to approved projects (see --> http://bit.ly/z6cm2m )- A large portion of this CPA money comes from Longmeadow property tax revenue.


There were a number of supporters (including myself) speaking in favor of the Storrs House Restoration and Preservation Project ($150K) jointly proposed by the Longmeadow Historical Society and the Storrs Library.




Some of the other public comments centered around a couple of the proposed projects (Community House Heating Plant Replacement, Community House Sewer + Driveway Upgrade and Town Hall Sewer Lateral Replacement) that appeared to be town maintenance issues that should be addressed by the town.

Question: If these maintenance projects are not considered by the town to be high priority items and fail to meet the town's approved capital project list, why should the money be spent out of CPA funds?

When the public hearing was concluded, all but one member of the public left.
___________________________________________________________

The CPC then started deliberations for each project. Here are the results....

1. Residential Home Modification Fund- $48K, APPROVED with some changes in procedure

2. Community House Heating Plant- $125K, TABLED for discussion at next meeting. Need for additional project specifics.

3. Tree Funding- $500K, TABLED for discussion at next meeting. Possible legal issue with using CPA funds for this purpose.

4. Community House Sewer/ Driveway Repair- $58.5K, APPROVED

5. Center School Gymnasium Esplanade- WITHDRAWN BY APPLICANT

6. Town Hall Sewer Repair- $13.1K, APPROVED

7. Preservation of Town Records- $10.1K, APPROVED

8. Storrs House Restoration and Preservation- $150K- TABLED for discussion at next meeting- need for additional information + some committee members felt it was too much money at one time and advocated a staged approach.

9. American Legion Building Upgrades- $29.7K, APPROVED

The Storrs House represents an important historical landmark and is a depository of historical documents and artifacts for the town of Longmeadow. From my vantage point it is a perfect example of how CPA funds should be allocated as compared to fixing sewer laterals for the Town Hall and Community House facilities. 

I strongly urge the CPC to approve the Storrs House Restoration project as proposed at their next meeting  so that it can be passed by town voters at the upcoming Annual Town Meeting on May 8. 

Town residents can show their support for this project by sending email to the Community Preservation Committee at: longmeadowcpc@yahoo.com

Longmeadow Property Taxes Through 2020

Now that the bonding for the new Longmeadow High School has been completed, a more accurate projection of increases in future property taxes can be made.  Using financial information recently obtained from Longmeadow's Director of Finance, I have updated my previous projections of Longmeadow property taxes for 2013--> 2020.

These latest projections include future effects on property taxes for all of the outstanding capital projects (Proposition 2½ debt exclusions) that have been approved by Longmeadow taxpayers. They include the impact of bonds for the new LHS project + the annual 2½% increase as allowed by Proposition 2½.   Maturing debt was considered which did reduce taxes. Property taxes FY2013 --> FY2020 are based upon average property assessment of $352,600. 

Click to enlarge graph- revised 2/14/12

FY2012 property taxes increased an average of +5.4% from FY2011 and FY2013 property taxes are projected to increase another +5.8% over FY2012.

The above property tax projections for FY2013 --> FY2020 do not include any new capital projects such as a new DPW facility or upgrades to the two middle schools. These projections also do not include any borrowing related to the recent tree debris cleanup costs.  These projections assumed no Proposition 2½ operational overrides until after 2020.

Given the above assumptions the average property tax will increase from $6939 in FY2012 to $8752 in FY2020- a 26.1% increase.

Please note: Residents should multiple the current FY2012 mil rate (19.68) x current assessment (see Vision Appraisal website)  to determine their FY2012 taxes.  Remember, you cannot simply multiple the current 3Q tax bill (due Feb. 1) x 4 to obtain your FY2012 taxes.

The Select Board and School Committee are now engaged in FY2013 budget discussions.  It will be interesting to see how our elected officials meet the upcoming budgetary challenges.  

Stay connected to the Buzz blog for updates throughout the budget season.

Christine Swanson Resigns from Longmeadow Select Board

Below is the resignation email letter from Christine Swanson that was read by chair Mark Gold at last night's Select Board meeting.
_______________________________________________________________

Dear Board Members and residents of Longmeadow,

I will be resigning from the Longmeadow Select Board effective the evening of January 3, 2012.  It has been a pleasure and an honor serving the last 6 years as a member of the Select Board, School Committee and School Building Committee.

For my fellow board members, the past year has served as an opportunity to examine and learn from our mistakes and successes.  My observations and participation on the board have provided me with greater clarity on the issues and challenges that continue to prevent the board from moving forward.   Here are a few of my suggestions:

1. No one board member has greater power or influence over any other board member.  Without collaboration and greater communication, issues will continue to go unresolved.
   
2. Trust is a large issue and continued undermining and backdooring of issues will further exacerbate this issue.
   
3. Personal agendas and future political aspirations should be put aside to allow the board to focus on the critical issues of the town as a whole not one sub set of the population for political or personal gain.
   
4. Separation of operations and policy must be adhered to and Board members getting involved in the day to day operations of the town is not the board’s charge and damaging to the employed leaders.
   
5. Town committees serve as advisory to the select board.  They do not override the expertise of the town employees but should enhance the information and data.  Continued antagonistic relationships between town departments and some town committees needs to be addressed.
   
6. The School Building Committee is a great example of how collaboration works when a team is comprised of town employees, vendors, elected board members and residents.  It should serve as a model going forward.
   
7. Lastly, I do hope that the board takes their time and does the proper due diligence in the hiring of a new Town Manager.  Recent hires by “hiring committees” have shown that there is room for improvement in the current process and the hiring committee needs to do the appropriate level of research to learn all they can about a candidate before they are offered a position.  

I wish everyone all the best in the future and look forward to seeing the completion of Longmeadow High School in 2013.

Warmest Regards,
Christine Swanson

A good decision!

There has been recent criticism by Alex Grant and others regarding the cost of tree debris cleanup for our town. I believe that our Select Board made a wise decision in electing to use Ashbritt to clean up tree related debris from our town streets.

Can you imagine our DPW crews trying to collect the large volume of tree debris from the streets of Longmeadow with their current equipment fleet?

Longmeadow DPW

vs.

AshBritt Environmental Services

According to recent AshBritt/ O'Brien estimates, 285,000 cubic yds of tree debris ranging from limbs and branches to 3-4' diameter tree sections were collected. Using an estimate of ~ 60 yd3 per collection vehicle, this amounts to ~ 4800 truckloads.

Using our DPW fleet of aging bucket loaders and dump trucks (+ other local contractors) it would have taken a very long time to complete this task. In addition, these types of vehicles are not well suited to tree debris pickup and would require significantly more time.

I'm sure that some of the much larger volume of tree debris collected for our town (vs. surrounding towns) was a result of town residents taking advantage of the curbside collection when they were cleaning up their own properties to reduce their own personal cleanup costs.

Using a figure of $2.5 million after FEMA reimbursement, this calculates to ~ $500/ homeowner which is reasonable given the widespread tree damage that hit our town during this storm. The final pricetag could be significantly lower if MEMA and the state of MA ante up some reimbursement funds for Longmeadow and surrounding towns.

In less than 2 months all of the tree debris has been removed from the 90+ miles of town streets including the large piles of wood chips that were generated at Wolf Swamp Road fields.  See photo below:

From what I have observed, I believe that the decision to use AshBritt was a good one and our town has quickly recovered from this effects of this devastating storm.... the money was well spent.

Can you imagine the condition of our town if we had experienced another major snowstorm in November or early December and had decided to use our DPW and local contractors to save money?

Line Item Transfers

During the course of school year the Longmeadow School Committee routinely makes a series of line item transfers to modify the allocation of budgeted monies.  These changes are usually developed by the SC Finance Sub-Committee and then presented to the full SC and adopted without much discussion.  SC meeting minutes usually do not include the details and only reference a document that is called FY2012 General Fund Revision #__ or FY2012 Grant/ Special Revenues Revision #__.

At the SC meeting last Monday night (12/12/11) there was an agenda item to discuss and approve three General Fund line item transfers- two of which included movement of budget dollars to be utilized for purposes different than originally targeted.

Here is an outline of the three line item transfers as best I could understand from the discussion...

Transfer #1-  Transfer $2500 from Williams Middle School "supplies" line item for the purchase of 5 new Apple iPads.
Transfer #2- Correct line item mistake for a Bookkeeper salary (simple entry error)
Transfer #3- Transfer $47,000 from two "salary" line items to be used for the purchase of 2 MacBook computer carts.

I credit new committee member Jim Desrochers for initiating a more thorough discussion of Transfers #1 and #3.  Without this discussion much of the detail would have been missing from public view.

Below are the highlights:

1. Williams Middle School received 2 iPad carts (50 iPads) as part of a larger School Dept technology purchase.  They now want 5 more iPads to be used by teachers to develop lesson plans and not have to share with students and worry about having to recharge them after they had been used all day in the classroom.  Transfer #1 takes $2500 originally allocated to supplies and moves it to purchase computer hardware.
   
   
2. LEEF provided grant money to Center/ Wolf Swamp ES for the purchase of 2 MacBook computer carts.  However, this money was used to fund the purchase of 4 -iPad carts (25 iPads each, total = 100) rather than being used for the intended purpose.  Teachers at Center and Wolfswamp Schools objected to this "repurposing" of LEEF funds so a transfer of funds of $47K from two budgeted salary lines is being proposed to correct the "error" and purchase 2 MacBook computer carts.  The 4- iPad carts will remain at Center School and Wolfswamp schools to be used in classrooms.
   
   According to the Superintendent Doyle, there was some miscommunication between the schools and the IT department about what type of "computing devices" were to be purchased.  Since the money used was provided by LEEF for a specific purpose, there is a need to purchase the two MacBook computer carts.
   
   
3. Mr. Desrochers asked an interesting question:
   If Transfer #3 is needed to correct a mistake because 100 iPads were purchased by "mistake", then why is there is a need to purchase 5 additional iPads (Transfer #1)?
   
   It was explained by Superintendent Doyle that taking 5 iPads from the carts would cause problems with not having enough iPads per classroom and interfere with instruction.

Below is a LCTV video clip (courtesy of LCTV) with the discussion that accompanied this agenda item.

It is worth watching this short video clip to hear additional comments by Ms. Jester and Mr. Desrochers.  Here are a couple of quotes...

Mr. Desrochers stated...  "technology is a thing that everyone is focused on... but it might not be the right thing to spend our money on"

In closing remarks on this subject, Ms. Jester said:  "we need to be cognizant of the expectation by the community that we do not see unexpended funds as kind of a 'candy shop' and a new way to spend money... there is an expectation that we will turn back unexpended funds at the end of the year."

The three proposed General Fund line item transfers were approved by the SC.

Let's hope that this latest series of line item transfers is not the beginning of how the School Committee plans to fund the School Department's growing appetite for new technology!

Miracles really do happen!

Longmeadow Knights head to Nationals at Disney!

It’s usually this time of year when one notices a miracle somewhere, and it’s been one miracle after another for the Longmeadow Knights, this small town’s Cheerleader Competition Team. Placing second, and only .5 points away from first, in a qualifying competition in Boston recently, the Longmeadow Knights qualified for nationals and received a bid to attend the National High School Cheerleading Competition at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, February 11-12, 2012. The NHSCC is considered the most prestigious cheerleading championship in the country. This ESPN-hosted event is nationally televised on ESPN and ESPN2 to over 100 million homes and 32 countries nationwide each year.

It was truly a miracle that brought them to this moment. Before their qualifying performance in Boston, the cheerleaders awoke with a message from their Coach, Jessica Prokup, that one of their flyers had a badly hurt ankle, leaving the team uncertain as to the day ahead. With the high morale and spirit the team has consistently shown, the team travelled to Boston with the hope they might perform all the while anxious for their teammate, who was blessed to have a parent in tow with sports therapy skills. They wouldn’t know until moments before the performance that they were going before the panel of judges, but perform they did! Maybe it was for their wounded flyer that they performed so well, or maybe they just realized how incredible they’ve become as a team. After they finished their choreography, not one cheerleader was looking at the board to see where they placed, only at each other with relieved faces and hearts that they completed their performance. Their devotion to each other was sincere and not a dry eye from the team’s fans was found. The fact that the Knights placed second and so close to first place afterward only added to the miracle they believe will continue as they head to Orlando. It’s a significant year because half of the team will be leaving for high school next year, and this is their last opportunity to perform at such a prestigious level together.

With only two months to plan, the expenses for this Longmeadow team of 22 girls, in grades 4 - 8, are costly. The girls are trying to raise donations to help offset the expenditures of this once-in-a-life time experience and only have two months to do it.  

They are asking for support from local businesses and individuals who wish to be a part of the event by sponsoring the team in Orlando. Sponsors will receive recognition.

These cheerleaders are grateful to represent Longmeadow and the State of Massachusetts and would love to do so in the best way possible. Team spirit is soaring while the girls visit the community to seek their support. 

Read a  Letter to Potential Sponsors
Submit a Sponsor Application

For additional information on sponsorship or to learn more about the Longmeadow Knights, please contact longmeadowknights@gmail.com