Both School Committeeperson Jackie Doherty, and Dick Howe, have great posts centering around an online video about the city’s proposed budget for schools. In the video, Lowell state Rep Kevin Murphy gives his view on the local option taxes. But more importantly (to Jackie and Dick) he also made a point of saying that the local officials need to guarantee that extra money goes to the schools. From Murphy:
I don’t really have a problem with local options [tax]…I just hope you [the schools] get the money, because that hasn’t been guaranteed….the city side commitment to public education in Lowell falls short of where it should be.
[…]
We ought to be telling the city council that they should step to the plate [on school funding]…we’ve done as much as we can…so I suggest you continue to lobby them, and get some type of commitment…
Specifically, it appears Murphy was talking about the local options meals taxes Governor Patrick proposed. Since the April 25 video of Murphy was shot, Lynch proposed his Lowell budget, which does show where any extra money from local option taxes (which could also include revenues from rescinding the outdated 93-year-old telecom pole tax exemption) might go. If I recall, some would go to schools, but not all. (It’s also not clear if local options taxes will be earmarked for property tax relief, not spending, although one easily can argue that the cuts to the budget are already tax relief for this coming year.)
Lynch’s budget is bare-bones, and responsible, and very transparent. However, I differ with the city manager in that I would rather pay a few dollars more in property tax (and if this summer we become home owners, this affects me very much) than see such drastic cuts from the schools, who have already lagged behind in funding for years, and are showing it. Our property tax burden is nothing compared to other local towns, and we should be willing to ensure our schools don’t fall apart any further. I would call on the city councilors, who are staring down an election year, to have half a backbone and call for a modest increase from the proposed tax rate for next year. Costs are going up (health care, building and maintenance costs, especially) and until the state fulfills the promise of a buy-in for towns into the statewide health care for government employees, we will have to bite the bullet.
Another question posed to me was, did the city side of the budget have as much as 8% cut from it, which is the amount being asked of the schools? Enquiring minds do want to find out…anyone good in math want to take a peek at the budget for me?
Join us for a health care forum for the Massachusetts 5th district special election on June 2, 10am to noon. The forum will take place at the Hudson Portuguese Club, 13 Port Street, Hudson, MA.
