Keep Framingham Affordable
Working to Keep Your | 
|
Every tax is a pay cut. |
|---|
| Modest or too ambitious? | Friday, October 15, 2004 |
|---|---|
| Charlie Breitrose 508-626-4407 | Metrowest Daily News |
|
Roads and sidewalks have holes in them. The fire station in
Saxonville is way past its prime. Other town-owned buildings have
started to show their age.
Like many communities, Framingham's infrastructure is falling apart and the only way to make it right, according to Town Manager George King, is to pass a multimillion dollar tax override. Some residents, however, say the proposal is too much. With the cost of gasoline, health care, food and other costs rising by the day, they say they simply cannot afford another tax increase. "An override is not a one-time fee," says Sumner Weisman, a retiree who lives in Nobscot. "It's every year forever." The proposal that King has been touting for the past few weeks calls for several renovation and construction projects, including a $24 million renovation of the Memorial Building, $20 million for road, bridge and sidewalk repairs, and $10 million for work on various schools in town. The total bill, King estimates, will be around $90 million, which would cost someone with the average Framingham home - valued at $298,000 - an additional $150 in property taxes. King believes residents will get something out of the money they would pay for this override. "This is an opportunity to reinvest in the community, to enhance property values and enhance the community," King said. "(Residents) will see new roads, new recreation facilities. These are all things people can enjoy, and take advantage of. "What we're trying to do is get the community to reinvest in itself." Coming just three years after the last override, and five year after asking for $54 million to pay the Framingham High School renovation, a Proposition 2 1/2 override may be a tough pill to swallow for town residents. Robert Bolles, who has lived in Framingham since 1962, protested against the 2002 override which raised $7.1 million to make up budget deficits, and plans to fight this one even harder. "I will be out there starting this weekend," Bolles said. "I will be going all around town to try to get people to go with me this time." Property taxes in Framingham, Bolles said, already make it difficult for some to live in town. He fears the town will begin to look like Sudbury and other surrounding towns where the "townies" cannot afford to live in the town where the grew up. "The working men and women and retirees will not survive in this town," Bolles said. The $90 million quoted by King could eventually go up, suggests Weisman. "The high school project is $5 million over budget," he said. "The whole (proposed) override adds up to $90 million - it's $150 (a year) and its low balled. "I've never seen a number like that that is accurate, and hasn't gone up." Town Meeting member Robert DeShaw's phone has been ringing off the hook with people wanting to talk about the override proposal. Most do not want to see it passed. "I'd say it's 80-20, with 80 percent against the Proposition 2 1/2 override," DeShaw said. "I got one call from a man who said he has no more flexibility. He has to decide do I buy oil or medication. A lot of people are going through that." DeShaw is also irked that King went to selectmen with the plan, before talking to Town Meeting committees. "It's not a courtesy, it should be mandatory," DeShaw said. The 2002 ballot measure narrowly passed with the help of parents trying to save Stapleton Elementary School and other school programs, and residents fighting to keep police officers and dispatchers on the job. In 2000, the town passed a $54 million debt exclusion to pay for renovation of Framingham High School. The override for the capital improvements would be more like the high school measure, King said, rather than the 2002 measure. The override passed in 2002 was an operational override, which increases property taxes on a permanent basis. The override for the proposed project would be a debt exclusion, which will raise taxes until the project is paid off. Paying for these projects out of the normal budget is not possible, King said. "Most projects would not fit within the regular capital budget - about $2 million to $3 million," King said. The list of projects amounting to $90 million is not set in stone, King said, but he wanted to present residents with the full list of work. "I might as well put it on the table all at once," King said. "My job is to propose what I see as needed improvements. If that is what will be in the plan that is voted on is up to others." The Board of Selectmen and Town Meeting will ultimately decide what items would be included in the override. Selectmen would have to place a measure on the ballot, and Town Meeting members must decide whether to approve the spending of the money. "If Town Meeting does not appropriate the money, there's not much point putting it on the ballot," King said. King has heard the outcry from some already, both at the selectmen's meeting and through the local media. He is not disheartened by the response, however. "(The criticism) comes mainly from the people you would expect, anti-tax advocates," King said. "I have got a lot of positive feedback. I am actually pleased so far from the reactions I've received." Various town departments are gathering their proposals and giving them to King this month. He plans to make a proposal of all the projects to selectmen at the Dec. 9 meeting. Town Meeting would take up the matter early next year, and King hopes to have the override on the ballot by April. |
|
Send comments to:
hjw2001@rcn.com
|
|