FAQ

QUESTIONS? YOU'VE GOT QUESTIONS? HERE ARE SOME ANSWERS....

Some Helpful Links:
Amherst Finance Committee Recommendation
Click here for the Amherst Town Website Override Page

What is an override? In 1980, voters in Massachusetts passed a state law called Proposition 2-1/2, which put a limit of 2.5% on how much a city or town can raise its overall property taxes each year. Proposition 2-1/2 allows communities to vote to “override” this limit to keep inflation, state aid reductions, and other financial stresses from automatically diminishing local services. (For more information, see the Finance Committee’s report on overrides, available by clicking the FY11 budget link at www.amherstma.gov.)

__________________________________

Why do we need an override? The national recession has reduced state aid to Amherst, creating a budget gap that threatens the schools, libraries, and town services we’ve built over generations. The State has cut our funding by $3.1 million over the last two years, and another $1.1 million in state aid cuts is expected next year. We have already made major cuts and wrung new efficiencies from our budgets over the past few years (see below). The recession appears to be ending, but state aid cuts will persist for several years.  If we don’t want to let this short-term, external crisis damage the Amherst we have built, we need to step up now and bridge the gap.

__________________________________

What will this override do? The override will raise a maximum of $1.68 million through property taxes. If passed, the funds will be allocated as follows to help these departments reduce their worst cuts by the following amounts: $400,000 for elementary schools, $739,195 for middle and high schools, $88,994 for the libraries, and $452,252 for town operations.

__________________________________

How much will it cost? The average ($334,600 property value) homeowner’s property tax would increase by $264 a year – that’s $22 a month.  And if you itemize your federal income tax, property taxes are deductible, so the net impact would be even less.  The net increase for the average homeowner in the 25% federal tax bracket would be $198 – that’s $16.50 a month!

__________________________________

If the override passes, will my taxes definitely go up by this amount next year? No, the override amount is a maximum number. It allows the town to increase the property tax levy by that amount if necessary, based on current projections of state aid, staff costs, and other variables. If state aid comes in better than expected, or if staff costs are further reduced, administrators have agreed not to restore additional services. Instead, property increases next year would be lower than the maximum amount projected above.

__________________________________

What will we lose without the override? A lot:
*  The schools would lose an additional 25 staff (FTE), on top of the 51 cut last year.
*  16.5 staff would be cut in the middle and high schools and 8.4 staff in the elementary schools.
*  In the elementary schools, loss of intervention and special education staff would leave overburdened classroom teachers dealing with widely divergent learning needs – all students’ education would suffer.
*  Music cuts would reduce plays and performances. Less attention to achievement gaps could lead to state sanctions, tarnishing our district.
*  At ARMS/ARHS, high school electives including art and technology would be cut, average class sizes would increase by 3 students per class, and the number of classes with 30 or more students would rise, threatening the depth and breadth of our college-preparatory system.
*  At the libraries, 2.4 staff would be cut, the book budget would be reduced by 9%, Friday afternoon hours would be jeopardized, children’s and reference services would be cut back, special collections services would be reduced, and state certification (and the state funding that comes with it) would be at risk.
*  Town operations would lose at least 6 staff, on top of previous cuts. Areas impacted include police dispatch, DPW snow and pothole workers, town clerk’s office, the Senior Center, and Inspections Services, plus half of the streetlights in town would be turned off.

The list goes on – check out the FY11 budget link at www.amherstma.gov to see all that is at stake.

__________________________________

Amherst has been living beyond our means for years – we need to “tighten our belt first!” Well, the good news for you is that Amherst has already tightened its belt. While Northampton was passing its override last year, Amherst was cutting 51 staff from the schools and 13.5 from town departments (including 3 police officers). Our town officials took seriously the message from the failure of the 2007 override. They asked a citizens’ fiscal committee (the FCCC) to examine the budget and identify strategies for closing Amherst’s structural deficit. Here are the areas the FCCC identified in 2008, and what has happened since:

*  Increase fees for services. Done. LSSE is now practically all fee-based; other fees increased.
*  Increase revenue from ambulance service. Done. Rates have been increased. Reduce costs through efficiencies, consolidation, and regionalization.
*  We’ve closed a school, closed a pool, consolidated departments in Town Hall, restructured health plans, pursued regional emergency dispatch, cut over 60 staff.
*  Increase economic development. Master Plan is done; business zoning is revamped; revenue-generating projects include the Lord Jeff, Boltwood Place, New England Environmental. Patterson property development and UMass taxable student housing discussions are ongoing.
*  Implement local option meals/lodging tax. Done. New, annual revenues now coming in.
*  Secure a Prop 2.5 override. Yes, the citizens’ fiscal committee said we would need one. Our public officials have done the hard work needed to erase our structural deficit over the long term. Even with the override, we will have made $7 million in cuts this year and next!

What we face now is the short-term problem of the recession. We can’t just keep cutting our way out – not if we want to emerge with the things we value about our community intact.

__________________________________

Can’t we close the gap through staff wage givebacks? We already have. The town’s police and fire unions and non-union staff have made wage concessions that already reduced the size of the override. School administrators have refused any wage increases next year – these givebacks also reduced the override amount. And the teacher’s union is discussing further contributions; if these negotiations are successful, the amount levied in property taxes next year will be reduced below the maximum amount specified in the override, and residents’ property tax increases will be even lower than the modest increases projected above. It is important to remember that even if every salary was frozen we would still be forced to lay off teachers and cut town and library services because of the overall size of the budget gap. There is no single solution to this problem – we need a balanced approach. Failure to pass an override can only make a bad situation much worse.

__________________________________

What if state aid comes in better than expected? If state aid comes in better than expected, or if staff costs are further reduced, administrators have agreed not to restore additional services. Instead, the property increases next year would be less than the maximum amount projected above.

__________________________________

Will an override only be a one-year fix? No, as mentioned above, the $7 million in cuts and restructuring over the past two years plus new sources of revenues (meals tax, fees, etc.) have closed Amherst's structural deficit. The town and school finance directors now project that our budgets will be in balance at least through the 2013 fiscal year, and our town is much better positioned fiscally going forward than it has been in the recent past. The question is, will our budgets be in balance at a level $1.68 million lower, cutting that amount of high-priority services on top of the $7 million in other cuts, or will we preserve these key services by passing the override now?

__________________________________

Increasing taxes might hurt those least able to pay? Asking folks to increase taxes is very difficult. However cutting schools, library hours, public safety, and other public services also hurts those least able to pay for private substitutes.

Amherst gives the maximum allowable local property tax exemption for seniors with limited incomes. There is also a local tax work-off program offering up to $750 in additional property tax exemption for participating seniors. Separately, there is a state income tax credit (“circuit breaker”) which gives rebates to seniors who are paying more than 10% of their income in property taxes and water and sewer bills. Without this override, the Senior Center will lose staffing, and seniors will lose services such as help with shopping, fuel, food stamps, and health insurance forms. They will also suffer, as we all will, from reduced emergency dispatch, library, and snowplowing support. They will lose property value with an education system that is less able to provide a quality education for its children. Seniors and non-seniors alike share so many reasons to vote Yes on March 23.

__________________________________

How many overrides have we had in Amherst? We have only passed two general overrides to support the operating budget in the 30 years since 1980, when Proposition 2.5 was passed. The last one was six years ago, in 2004. The one before that was in 1991. Three “debt exclusion” overrides for specific purposes have been passed (all in 1994), for the middle school roof, the high school renovation, and a fire pumper truck. (For more information, see the Finance Committee’s report on overrides, available by clicking the FY11 budget link at www.amherstma.gov.)

__________________________________

Why don't we just keep within the 2.5% limit of Proposition 2.5? Proposition 2.5 by its very nature causes annual reductions in public school funding and town services, since it does not keep up with annual inflation or price escalation in health care and other contract costs (the average inflation in the US was 3.2% for the last 5 years, despite the economic downturn). Therefore this override is a necessary correction to a law that results in continual diminishing of public services. Our schools and our town deserve to be properly funded so that our children can get the type of education that prepares them for the challenges of the 21st century, and so that we and our neighbors can maintain a safe and prosperous community.

__________________________________

I keep paying more in taxes every year – I can’t afford it! Property taxes have been increasing, and we all feel it. What we may not notice, though, is that at the same time our federal and state income taxes have actually gone down.

In fact, if your family brings in $70,000 a year and you live in the average house in Amherst ($334,600 property value), your combined tax payments for property tax and federal and state income tax were actually over $600 lower in 2009 than they were in 2000! (Total decrease in state and federal income tax: $1,819; total increase in local property tax: $1,186; net decrease: $633; all figures in 2009 dollars.) This is the main reason our town, like many others, is now seeking an override – federal and state governments have cut taxes and then cut local aid, leaving local communities to pick up the slack.

__________________________________

I hear we could save $300,000 next year by just switching the high school schedule from trimesters to semesters. This is incorrect. The high school schedule is not a factor in next year’s budget amount, for the following reasons: (1) In either a trimester or a semester scenario for next year at ARHS, teachers teach 10 course periods a year, and students take 13 course periods a year – there is no $300,000 to be saved. (2) The superintendent has said that moving from the trimester to the semester is a major undertaking that will not be doable by next September. (3) The schedule is currently a matter that needs to be negotiated in contract negotiations. The contract is open for renegotiation for FY 2012. Until then, this is not a matter for unilateral decision-making from the administration side. (4) The school committee has not voted to change the schedule. Individual members have made public statements, but the committee has not weighed in. For all of these reasons, the high school schedule is not an issue relevant to the override vote.

__________________________________

Why don’t we hit up the colleges for the money? State law does not allow taxing colleges and other educational facilities. The colleges do provide a number of benefits to our town and schools. But they have their own financial challenges. The University has taken even larger budget cuts from the state than towns and schools have. And the private colleges have taken major hits to their endowment funds recently and are in cost-cutting mode themselves.

__________________________________

Why can’t citizens fundraise and donate money to close the gap? Based on fundraising efforts in previous years, we know it is not possible to privately raise $1.68 million in 6 weeks from the people of Amherst. And it is not fiscally responsible to try and support ongoing costs with annual fundraising. Taxes share the burden more equally and are the appropriate way to raise ongoing funds for the high-priority services our community needs.

__________________________________

How was the amount of the override decided? Each of the town departments and their boards followed Finance Committee guidelines and produced (1) a budget for level services, that is, to be able to do the same things at next year's cost levels that they are doing this year, and (2) a budget for the likely scenario of state aid being cut 5% below this year's level. They then produced lists of specific cuts to close the gap between those two numbers, identifying items that could be cut without undue harm and items that should really be retained to protect core functions. Based on this list, each department and board proposed a maximum amount of highest-priority restorations to be accomplished through an override. A total of $1.68 million in priority restorations were identified – that is the amount of cuts to be avoided with the override. $2.5 million of other cuts will be made even if the override passes.