Posts filed under 'News'
(Blog series so named for William Bulger’s admonition about the three most deadly words a politician can say: Let me explain.)
The gubernatorial candidates are sniping at each other over property tax issues. And Blue Mass Group poster “JohnK” has weighed in with a measured assessment of the claims and counterclaims, entitled “CHARLIEBAKERFAIL” or some such thing (they must be using a template at this point).
The latest salvo comes from the Patrick Campaign, which is trying a very delicate semantic pivot — that property tax increases have decreased under the GOV.
They put up this chart, which I can’t recreate. But from this DOR data, I get directionally the same results. (I’d note that I’m using “Total Tax Levy” to determine increases, if I’ve made an error using this, I hope someone sets me straight.)
One thing, I’d note is that the take from property taxes comes from two sources — existing properties and new growth. If the ‘decrease in the increase’ came from a slowdown in new growth, that’s not a good thing.
I grabbed a spreadsheet off of DOR’s website that tracks the role of new growth in the property tax base.
What you see is that taxable new growth (the blue line) has tailed off in the past few years. No surprise right? Homebuilding and commercial property development have taken it on the chin in this recession.
What you also see is that with an existing tax base growing inexorably at something close to 2.5%, even consistent levels of new growth in nominal dollars (never mind decreases) have less and less of an impact on property tax growth rates. (The red line is amount of new growth applied to tax base as a percentage of previous year’s levy limit)
So, the big takeaway? I’d be hesitant to take credit for a decline in property tax increases if the driver was a lack of growth and not relief for the average homeowner.
September 1st, 2010
(I guess this is my introduction to middle age — this is a ‘back in my day’ post)
Now, I take a back seat to very few people in the privileged upbringing department — leafy green suburbs, high quality schools — but the new Newton North high school does give one pause.
I respect the desire to have the best for your kids (although I’m not happy with the negative incentives that ‘free’ state money provided), but this school is a bit much.
Look at all the stuff: A regular theatre and a ‘black-box theatre’ (whatever that might be)? The large flat screen TVs at various stations? Two gyms? Elliptical machines? and on and on.
I hope the edifice complex on display here does not obscure the one thing I hope they got right (and curiously absent from any public officials comments) — getting really good teachers.
And another observation — having seen a fair number of public and private institutional buildings at various stages, the finish of the exterior of this building, with its multiple materials and textures, and numerous decorative bends and turns, strikes me as a maintenance headache in the future.
August 31st, 2010
Jim Stergios was on WRKO’s Tom & Todd show talking about how the Race to the Top is really a Race to the Bottom.
Check out his assessment of the grim situation here.
Also check out Jim’s Boston.com blog Rock the Schoolhouse for more information on this hot topic.
August 26th, 2010
Quick, who is your Governor’s Councillor?
Chances are that you have no idea. I’ve said in the past that its time for this vestige of our colonial past to go, but still it remains.
In the 2nd race, the current councillor, Kelly Timilty, faced a challenge the last time around but prevailed 66% to 34% over Robert Jubinville. In that race, Timilty faked an endorsement from Governor Patrick and ended up paying a fine after the fact for her actions.
Well, Jubinville is back and he’s not pleased. Check out the mailer I received over the weekend. Pretty rough stuff – cheating and stealing, etc. Curious where they got that shot of Timilty.
August 23rd, 2010
Jobs is a tough issue for the Governor these days, given the news of job losses coming out of Wonderland. But then there’s the announcement today, which Robert Gavin reports about in the Globe:
The state gained more than 13,000 jobs in July, while data revisions showed that employment growth in June, nearly 3,000 jobs, was far stronger than initially estimated, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported today. The state unemployment rate held steady at 9 percent.
David Guarino is tweeting about a pep rally the Governor is going to hold at 4:30 to celebrate the jobs numbers. And Doug Rubin is tweeting
Globe: “MA added jobs for 6th consecutive month as MA economy continued a broad recovery that is outpacing nation as whole” #magov #mapoli
Job creation is great but as Pioneer has shown repeatedly, the month-to-month fluctuations will only be something to celebrate when we make up the hundreds of thousands of job lost in the past decade. That’s not a political statement — that’s a story about what is essentially a “lost decade” in Massachusetts for employment. The need to change the way we do business is staring us in the face. It’s as close to Massachusetts as Russia is to Alaska, to paraphrase Sarah Palin.
See the jobless reports in New Hampshire, where
The statistics released by New Hampshire Employment Security in late July show that the state’s unadjusted unemployment rate fell in June to 5.7 percent — making it the fifth month in a row of economic improvement.
You read that right. See John Nolan’s piece in Foster’s Daily Democrat:
New Hampshire now has the fourth lowest unemployment rate in the country behind North and South Dakota and Nebraska.
Elsewhere in the United States (which posted a 9.6 percent rate in June) life is much tougher, with 16 states still mired in double-digit unemployment rates.
New Hampshire’s unadjusted jobless rate of 5.7 percent, contrasts, in New England, with that of Rhode Island (11.6 percent), Connecticut (8.9 percent) and Massachusetts (8.8 percent). Maine fared a little better in June with a 7.7 percent jobless rate, while Vermont is just behind New Hampshire with 5.9 percent.
So, on a regional basis, we’re doing better than li’l Rhodey, about as well as Connecticut, and behind Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.
August 19th, 2010
FEDERALISM
DIRIGISME
Huh? You’d think that I have that backwards, with the freedom-loving, federalist heritage that Americans love so much.
Try this chart published in the August 12th Economist showing central (for us federal) government spending as a percentage of overall public spending.
Statists and dirigistes is what we are. Makes you want to head across the pond, raise a glass of champagne and celebrate France’s undying commitment to liberte’!
August 17th, 2010
I must admit to an unhealthy fascination with the state auditor’s race. Besides Guy Glodis’ bus, you’ve got an interesting cast of characters (and conflicting voter bloc loyalties) on both ballots.
So, I was interested to see this yard sign duo cropping up around the Suffolk & Norfolk District:
August 17th, 2010
This space has been a big proponent of regionalization, with a strong preference for organic, self-directed regionalization. For the towns surrounding Lawrence, they may not have that luxury.
When we looked at the attempt to regionalize fire services on the South Shore in the report linked above, one unexpected finding was that some communities already received an implicit subsidy based on mutual aid agreements (and were loathe to enter into a regionalization agreement that caused them to have to pay up for what they were getting for free).
The City of Lawrence appears to be doing something similar. It has cut back its fire department staffing to what appears to this layman to be extraordinarily low levels. As a result, other towns are regularly responding to calls.
This past weekend,
Fifteen on-duty firefighters were recently left to battle two multiple-alarm fires in quick succession, necessitating help from surrounding fire departments. Firefighters from 12 other towns were called in with the first fire, and, just hours later, firefighters from 14 towns were called in for the second.
In total, since the budget cuts took effect,
Lawrence has summoned help from other communities six times, compared with nine times all last year.
There may be some subsidies in mutual aid agreements but, as the name suggests, there has to be some mutual benefit. We’ll see how long Lawrence’s neighbors will accept this state of affairs.
August 12th, 2010
One of the card-carrying members of this town’s great and good, Judy Meredith, contributes the following to a Blue Mass Group discussion of Matt Amorello’s arrest:
thanks for this ernie (6.00 / 4)
so sad for Matt, not a bad fellow at all.
I suspect too many police officers are high school bullies who were too stupid for community college and lacked the self control required by organized crime.
by: Judy Meredith @ Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 09:09:01 AM CDT
I include the entire comment (despite the awkward formatting) so no one can say its taken out of context.
This space has not always had a great relationship with the public safety community (examples here and here), but I’ve always strived to keep the tone respectful. Having had the good fortune to get to know a number of police officers as fathers, mothers, and neighbors, it makes me cringe when I read generalizations like this from people who supposedly know better.
Aside from the unfair smearing of an entire group of people, she’s also wrong. Thanks in no small part to the Quinn Bill, large numbers of police officers are not only smart enough for community college, but hold bachelors, masters, and law degrees.
August 12th, 2010
Jim Stergios is Rocking the Schoolhouse again on Boston.com.
Check out what he has to say about the second round of Race to the Top funding. You won’t be disappointed!
August 9th, 2010
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