Selectman Meeting 2003/10/30

Every tax is a pay cut. Every tax cut is a pay raise.
Citizens for Limited Taxation

October 30, 2003

I still have not received answers to my questions on immigration. I then defended a request for a Proposition 2 1/2 underride.

First, I'd like to make a few brief remarks about the 1998 Financial Task Force report. The names of George P. King, Jr. and Charles J. Sisitsky are very prominent on its cover. This report predicted back in 1998 that an override would be needed in 2002 because expenditures were rising faster than revenues. While examining it, I took note that it was amazingly accurate on the expenditure side. The report provided a very long list of how to cut expenses. None of these recommendations were applied by either Mr. King or Mr. Sisitsky. There was no effort to control spending. In esence, the last override came simply because expenditures were not controlled, as they should have been. It was not the fault of the taxpayer in anyway, #---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Next, I'd like to use Craig Maccormack's article on my underride suggestion as the means of response. First, some general remarks and then I'll sweep across the room from left to right, saving the bulk of my response for Mrs. Esty. Selectmen are unlikely to pursue the possibility of a Proposition 2 1/2 underride on next spring's ballot, saying the fiscal crunch makes such a move too risky. Risk? What risk? Either the town wins or the taxpayer wins. There is no risk at all. What you are really saying is that you do not believe the voters are intelligent enough to know what's best for them. By not offering them the choice for an underride, you will not allow them to make any errors in judgement? Concerning the "fiscal crunch" as it is called..... The private sector has seen a significant reduction in wealth and jobs lost. I myself lost my job for 6 months in this financial disaster. Meanwhile back at the Framingham town ranch...... I'd like to read you the General Fund levels for the last five years. 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- General fund: $132m $139m $150m $160m $163m This constitutes a monotonically increasing sequence of numbers. A decrease has yet to show up. In my language, no cuts have taken place. #--------------------------------------------------------------------------- George King "I don't see a groundswell for it," he said. "I don't think it would come close to passing. I would be happy to see it on the ballot and define what $7 million less in services would be. Then we'd see if people support it." The only groundswell you ever saw originated from people who work in this building. That's an extremely biased groundswell. I wonder where your salary comes from. I do not believe I detected a groundswell of support of the override. I cannot remember a single person stating that it was a good idea except six people in this room. I'd like to point out that you celebrated the passing of the last override. What reasonable man would celebrate the further impoverishment of the taxpayer? $7.5 million loss in services would throw us all the way back to the middle of 2002, and I do not remember anything of significance going on back then, do you? If you do not think it would come close to passing, what's the risk in putting it on the ballot? Your just afraid of the voters, aren't you? #----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Katie Murphy "I understand what he's saying, and I know there are a lot of people who still don't have jobs, but bills still need to be paid," she said. When running for office last year, you specifically stated that a Proposition 2 1/2 override should be a choice of the voters. Don't you think an underride should also be a choice of the voters? Isn't this an example of hypocrisy? BTW, bills also have to be paid by taxpayers. Esther Hopkins "I can't imagine what people would think of selectmen who made that sort of suggestion," she said. "They'd think we lost our minds. He's looking at it from a different perspective and not considering the whole picture." The underride is merely about giving the voters the opportunity to make a choice. Do you object giving the voters that choice? Have you ever gone to the library and done a financial analysis of the town of Framingham from 1990 thru 2002? Have you slugged thru all the numbers for 13 years? For instance, how much was the General Fund in 1996? How about 2003? Have you done an analysis of tax revenues, versus population growth and the CPI (Consumer Price Index)? Tell me about your experience and what shows up? The last 6 years shows a huge growth spurt from both state aid and mostly new business growth. Perhaps, it is you that has lost your mind. I would like to offer you a chance to debate me on a cable TV show of your choosing and we can discuss Framingham finances. Will you accept my offer? Yes or No? Ginger Esty "We have so many expenses that are fixed by contract, so I'm not sure if it's in the realm of possibility," she said. "It sounds great, but how do you do it? Maybe he could show us how that could be done successfully." . Cut manpower, particularly in schools. In seven years, the cost of schools has risen by over 55%. In 1996, taxpayers were paying $50 million for schools, last year they paid $79 million. In return for this $29 million per year increase, SAT scores have risen by exactly 2 points out of 1,600 points possible. This represents crass inefficiency in our schools. Current class size is 13 (8700/674). The class size can be increased to 14 or 15 by eliminating about 60 teachers, or $4 million. The taxpayer (not the town government) saves $1 million for every 15 teachers eliminated. There is no compelling, substantive or even weak evidence that correlates class size to academic results. In the last 35 years, class size has been reduced from 30 to current levels and SAT scores have dropped over that same period. In 2004, the school budget shows an increase of $800K in administrative costs while student headcount slipped. . You can and should renegotiate contracts to cut health insurance costs. Freeze all COLAs until the bargaining units agree to pay a greater share of their health insurance. They currently pay 10%. Each 10% they are willing to absorb is a $2.2 million saving to the taxpayer (not to the town government). We are apying close to $9,000 per employee for health care, full or part time. Health care now accounts for 12% of the General Fund. . You can merge human resources for the schools and the towns. You can whine incessantly about the differences but they can and should be merged. . You can merge town government and school building maintenance and park/schools field maintenace. All these departments do about the same type of work. . You can place all financial operations of the town and schools under one office. . Stop paying health insurance for all part time positions like schools crossing guards and school bus drivers. . Increase the share of health insurance costs of future retirees from 25% to 50%. Exercise real leadership and push for these changes I have suggested. These were also offered to you back in 1998. Finally, give the voters a choice of underrides, not just overrides. You are elected by the taxpayers, not the town government employees. Stop acting only in the favor of the town government. Think about the taxpayers. Be thankful to the taxpayers Give them the choice of an underride. It only takes a 3-2 vote from the five of you.

October 30, 2003
I still have not received answers to my questions on immigration. I then defended a request for a Proposition 2 1/2 underride.
First, I'd like to make a few brief remarks about the 1998 Financial Task Force report. The names of George P. King, Jr. and Charles J. Sisitsky are very prominent on its cover. This report predicted back in 1998 that an override would be needed in 2002 because expenditures were rising faster than revenues. While examining it, I took note that it was amazingly accurate on the expenditure side. The report provided a very long list of how to cut expenses. None of these recommendations were applied by either Mr. King or Mr. Sisitsky. There was no effort to control spending. In esence, the last override came simply because expenditures were not controlled, as they should have been. It was not the fault of the taxpayer in anyway, #---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Next, I'd like to use Craig Maccormack's article on my underride suggestion as the means of response. First, some general remarks and then I'll sweep across the room from left to right, saving the bulk of my response for Mrs. Esty. Selectmen are unlikely to pursue the possibility of a Proposition 2 1/2 underride on next spring's ballot, saying the fiscal crunch makes such a move too risky. Risk? What risk? Either the town wins or the taxpayer wins. There is no risk at all. What you are really saying is that you do not believe the voters are intelligent enough to know what's best for them. By not offering them the choice for an underride, you will not allow them to make any errors in judgement? Concerning the "fiscal crunch" as it is called..... The private sector has seen a significant reduction in wealth and jobs lost. I myself lost my job for 6 months in this financial disaster. Meanwhile back at the Framingham town ranch...... I'd like to read you the General Fund levels for the last five years. 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- General fund: $132m $139m $150m $160m $163m This constitutes a monotonically increasing sequence of numbers. A decrease has yet to show up. In my language, no cuts have taken place. #--------------------------------------------------------------------------- George King "I don't see a groundswell for it," he said. "I don't think it would come close to passing. I would be happy to see it on the ballot and define what $7 million less in services would be. Then we'd see if people support it." The only groundswell you ever saw originated from people who work in this building. That's an extremely biased groundswell. I wonder where your salary comes from. I do not believe I detected a groundswell of support of the override. I cannot remember a single person stating that it was a good idea except six people in this room. I'd like to point out that you celebrated the passing of the last override. What reasonable man would celebrate the further impoverishment of the taxpayer? $7.5 million loss in services would throw us all the way back to the middle of 2002, and I do not remember anything of significance going on back then, do you? If you do not think it would come close to passing, what's the risk in putting it on the ballot? Your just afraid of the voters, aren't you? #----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Katie Murphy "I understand what he's saying, and I know there are a lot of people who still don't have jobs, but bills still need to be paid," she said. When running for office last year, you specifically stated that a Proposition 2 1/2 override should be a choice of the voters. Don't you think an underride should also be a choice of the voters? Isn't this an example of hypocrisy? BTW, bills also have to be paid by taxpayers. Esther Hopkins "I can't imagine what people would think of selectmen who made that sort of suggestion," she said. "They'd think we lost our minds. He's looking at it from a different perspective and not considering the whole picture." The underride is merely about giving the voters the opportunity to make a choice. Do you object giving the voters that choice? Have you ever gone to the library and done a financial analysis of the town of Framingham from 1990 thru 2002? Have you slugged thru all the numbers for 13 years? For instance, how much was the General Fund in 1996? How about 2003? Have you done an analysis of tax revenues, versus population growth and the CPI (Consumer Price Index)? Tell me about your experience and what shows up? The last 6 years shows a huge growth spurt from both state aid and mostly new business growth. Perhaps, it is you that has lost your mind. I would like to offer you a chance to debate me on a cable TV show of your choosing and we can discuss Framingham finances. Will you accept my offer? Yes or No? Ginger Esty "We have so many expenses that are fixed by contract, so I'm not sure if it's in the realm of possibility," she said. "It sounds great, but how do you do it? Maybe he could show us how that could be done successfully." . Cut manpower, particularly in schools. In seven years, the cost of schools has risen by over 55%. In 1996, taxpayers were paying $50 million for schools, last year they paid $79 million. In return for this $29 million per year increase, SAT scores have risen by exactly 2 points out of 1,600 points possible. This represents crass inefficiency in our schools. Current class size is 13 (8700/674). The class size can be increased to 14 or 15 by eliminating about 60 teachers, or $4 million. The taxpayer (not the town government) saves $1 million for every 15 teachers eliminated. There is no compelling, substantive or even weak evidence that correlates class size to academic results. In the last 35 years, class size has been reduced from 30 to current levels and SAT scores have dropped over that same period. In 2004, the school budget shows an increase of $800K in administrative costs while student headcount slipped. . You can and should renegotiate contracts to cut health insurance costs. Freeze all COLAs until the bargaining units agree to pay a greater share of their health insurance. They currently pay 10%. Each 10% they are willing to absorb is a $2.2 million saving to the taxpayer (not to the town government). We are apying close to $9,000 per employee for health care, full or part time. Health care now accounts for 12% of the General Fund. . You can merge human resources for the schools and the towns. You can whine incessantly about the differences but they can and should be merged. . You can merge town government and school building maintenance and park/schools field maintenace. All these departments do about the same type of work. . You can place all financial operations of the town and schools under one office. . Stop paying health insurance for all part time positions like schools crossing guards and school bus drivers. . Increase the share of health insurance costs of future retirees from 25% to 50%. Exercise real leadership and push for these changes I have suggested. These were also offered to you back in 1998. Finally, give the voters a choice of underrides, not just overrides. You are elected by the taxpayers, not the town government employees. Stop acting only in the favor of the town government. Think about the taxpayers. Be thankful to the taxpayers Give them the choice of an underride. It only takes a 3-2 vote from the five of you.

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