"With the state offering millions of dollars in matching money, the towns have little choice but to ask for a tax increase that will raise enough money to match the state’s share"
If I DID THAT TO YOU, dear readers, it would be a CRIME!
Look up extortion in the dictionary next time and see what the definition is, then ask yourself what the state did with all the taxes they didn't kick back as "aid."
Oh, yeah, you can KEEP the STATE FUNDS and SEND IT BACK where you got it, 'kay?
"7 communities pushing to raise taxes for projects; Rockland voters back $86m school" by Kathy McCabe, Globe Staff | November 15, 2009
Despite the sputtering economy, seven area communities this fall are plunging ahead with campaigns to raise property taxes for multimillion-dollar school construction projects.
Why are the SCHOOLS FALLING APART after all the TAXES WE HAVE PAID?
Rockland residents yesterday voted 2,092 to 942 to raise property taxes to build an $86 million middle and high school, approving the second such tax increase in six months by a more than 2 to 1 margin.
I would suggest you look at the links of this post, folks, to see where you could get millions of dollars.
Oh, STATE MAKING YOU RAISES TAXES AGAIN, huh?
"The Bay State, of course, is not the easiest place to do business.... the state could do more to improve the business climate.... such as.... keeping tax rates competitive"
Say what?
Over the next month, at least six other Bay State towns - Billerica, Hamilton, Needham, Norfolk, Wayland, and Wenham - will hold similar special elections, seeking debt exclusion to pay for big-ticket renovation or school construction.
Oh, GREAT! Yeah, TAKE on INTEREST-BEARING DEBT to BANKS to do this!!
Related: Municipal Bond Milking
What the heck is the TAX HIKE FOR THEN?
Also see: Bonding With the State
It is not even your money anymore, huh, 'murkn?
Most of the projects have been in the pipeline for years, but now the final step is coming amid grim economic conditions. With the state offering millions of dollars in matching money, the towns have little choice but to ask for a tax increase that will raise enough money to match the state’s share.
“It’s a difficult time for everyone, ’’ said Marilyn Werkheiser, a member of the Rockland School Committee, referring to the weak economy. “But I think people really understand the need to do these things [increase taxes] to make our town better.’’
Well, not really!
See: Here Comes Santa Claus' Sleigh
Breaking News: The Biggest Bonuses of All Time
This year, 29 communities have voted on property tax increases, according to the Massachusetts Municipal Association, a trade group representing cities and towns. Of that number, 15 were for general overrides, with seven winning approval.
Yup, a 25% success rate for raising taxes and yet SOMEHOW we KEPT the INCOME TAX and INCREASED the SALES TAXES while STILL SLASHING SERVICES so we could CONTINUE to SEND STATE LOOT to BANKS and CORPORATE INTERESTS!!!
What is WRONG with this picture?
The other 14 were debt exclusions, for which the association did not track results....
Well, WHY NOT? They ALL GET TURNED DOWN?
We all LUUUUVVV going into to debt, don't we?
Yup, FORCED to by the STATE THAT LOVES YOU!!!!!
In Rockland, the debt exclusion - a temporary tax increase allowed under the state’s Proposition 2 1/2 property tax cap - would raise taxes by $23 next year. But the amount would gradually rise to $400, according to estimates. Voters in May approved a $2.8 million permanent tax increase to keep an elementary school open.
Yes "TEMPORARY" = PERMANENT when it comes to taxes and pilot programs!
Rockland is due to receive $53 million, one of the highest state reimbursement grants awarded this year. The project would build a new middle school, renovate the high school, and connect the two buildings. “This would be a brand-new facility, right smack in the middle of town,’’ said John W. Rogers, the chairman of the School Building Committee and a retired Rockland school superintendent for whom the middle school is named. “It would take care of our building needs for the next 50 years.’’
Yup, and a CRUMBLING TOWN ALL AROUND IT!
But fiscal conservatives caution voters should not get swept up with the promise of state money, particularly as Massachusetts battles a $600 million deficit. “The state is spending money it doesn’t have,’’ said Barbara Anderson, executive director of Citizens for Limited Taxation, the taxpayer group that pushed for the passage of Proposition 2 1/2 passage. “I think voters should stop and think: ‘Gee, are some of my neighbors unemployed or living on fixed incomes? Even if I can afford it, should I be putting this onto my neighbors?’ ’’
If you are a hypocritical Massachusetts liberal, yeah!
Holly Horrigan of Needham thinks the proposed debt exclusion to pay for the $27.4 million renovation of her town’s Newman Elementary School is ill-timed. “I think the town officials who put this package together are frankly out of touch with the economic realities that many members of the community and state are experiencing,’’ said Horrigan, a mother of two children at the school. “I think we should have learned by now that buying on credit . . . is a very bad idea.’’
Yes, but NO ONE LISTENS -- certainly not the looting state!
Many of the current projects were stymied in the past by many factors, such as a state moratorium on new funding for school building projects in 2004. Under new state regulations, a community or school district must have a plan to finance the entire cost of a project, before it would be eligible for a state reimbursement grant.
Yeah, JUST IN CASE the STATE RENEGES!
The state reimburses for design and construction costs, but not to buy or improve land for a project. If the 120-day funding deadline is not met, a project has to be resubmitted, with no promise of receiving the same rate of reimbursement. “One concern of the new program is that cities and towns may have to pay a much bigger share if a [debt exclusion] is rejected,’’ said John Robertson, deputy legislative director of the MMA. “What happens then?’’
I assume YOU PAY FOR IT ALL then. Going to anyway.
I've lived here my whole life and this is how it works.
Proponents of school projects are betting on the promise of state reimbursement to help them win at the ballot box.
Or they will just stuff and rig the thing!
Or will the STATE EXTORTION be enough?!
Wayland voters three times have rejected debt exclusions to build a new high school. Now, with the approval for 62 percent reimbursement, or about $25 million, the odds are better with this proposal, observers said....
Wow, “what is it about democracy that these groups don’t understand?’’
Oh, SORRY, WRONG GROUP!!!!
This week, Wayland voters will take two votes on whether to finance a new $70 million high school. On Tuesday, a special election will be held to approve a debt exclusion. The next day, a special Town Meeting will be held to authorize bonds to pay for the project over the next 25 years, according to the funding plan. “They’re big votes,’’ said Lea Anderson, chairwoman of the Wayland High School Building Committee. “There is no way the town can afford to pay for it without the funding approved.’’
And we have seen who wins on that deal, huh?
Billerica, where a special election will be held Nov. 21, could not afford to pay for the new $33.6 million Parker Elementary School out of the town or School Department budget. “We pride ourselves on being able to do things in budget,’’ said Marc Lombardo, chairman of the Board of Selectmen. “A project like this, however, is just too much of a cost.’’
Related:
"the Globe implemented a turnaround plan this year that included closing the Billerica printing plant"
Norfolk and Needham have put debt exclusion proposals on the ballot of the Dec. 8 special state primary election to fill the seat of the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy. Norfolk is seeking $37 million to replace Freeman-Centennial School. The town is in line to receive 53 percent reimbursement, or $17.2 million. “There is no way we would ask the voters to bear the full cost,’’ said Beth Gilbert, a School Committee member who also sits on the School Building Committee. “Right now, there are historically low construction costs . . . That’s another advantage.’’
--more--"
Update: One down, five to go.
"Voters approve $70.8m school project
Voters at a special Town Meeting approved funds last night for a new high school, a day after the school won approval at the polls. Town Meeting voters approved the $70.8 million school 1,481 to 95, with one abstention. The state will reimburse part of the project. The town’s share will be $45.8 million, including funds already spent on a feasibility study and preliminary design. The project calls for a 100,000-square-foot classroom building, a 54,000-square-foot commons building, and renovation of the school’s field house. School officials hope the buildings will be open for the start of the 2012-2013 school year.
--more--"
You know what? You live there not me, Waylanders. The hell with ya!
