Gateway Towns Advisory Committee co-chair Darlene McVeigh and Derrick Mason of Russell. (Photo by Amy Porter)
HUNTINGTON – Town officials from five of the six Gateway hilltowns met on Wednesday to consider the initial Gateway Regional budget projections, and prepare for the March 1 public hearing on the budget to be held in the Gateway performing arts center at 7:00 p.m.
Darlene McVeigh, co-moderator of the Gateway Towns Advisory Committee and Huntington Finance Committee chair, said the current projection is a nearly $160,000 increase for the Gateway budget.
“Even though they’ve held expenses to $159,000, there is a $246,000 increase to the towns assessments,” McVeigh explained.
She said the increase is based on a state formula, including number of students from each town for the above minimum and non-foundation contributions, and is not equal to all the towns. Three towns, Chester, Huntington and Russell, will have an increase in their assessments, while Blandford, Montgomery and Middlefield will have a decrease. McVeigh said that currently Russell’s increase is nearly at 10%.
One of the items being discussed at both GTAC and School Committee meetings is changing the way towns are assessed, by using a five-year rolling average of the percentage of students enrolled from each town.
According to Gateway Superintendent Dr. David B. Hopson’s January 9 column in The Westfield News, “by doing this, the swings in annual town assessments would level out eliminating much of the difficulty our member towns face in meeting their district assessment, even when the (school) budget stays level or decreases.”
“This year, Blandford is scheduled to have a decrease,” said Blandford Selectman Andy Montanaro at Wednesday’s meeting. “I’m prepared to support the 5-year average. If we don’t do that, I want the savings to be put in a new school stabilization account,” he added. Montanaro explained that with the 5-year average, there won’t be the wild swings from year to year.
Montanaro went on to say that the first year is the hurdle, where some towns may pay more than the state assessment would be for that year. He said ultimately, over time, the assessment would average out to be the same.
The plan would also require unanimous agreement from all six member towns of the Gateway Region, while passing the school budget requires a positive vote from four of the six towns.
Andy Myers, Chester representative and head of the Hilltown Collaborative, suggested that if the towns were to go to a five-year rolling average, that it should be a five-year plan that everybody agrees to. He said Gateway also has to look at the five-year trend.
Myers said that right now, projections show that by 2019, half of the population of the Hilltowns will be 65 or older, and the numbers of students will continue to decrease.
“The trend is for more students to leave Gateway. We’ve got three pretty good-sized buildings that we’re paying for 800 students. At what point are they not viable?” Myers said, adding that the towns need a strong school system.
Noreen Suriner, GTAC co-moderator from Middlefield, said in her town, the average home income is below $20,000, with no town services to speak of except snow plowing. She said the rest of the budget, three-quarters of it, goes to the schools.
“I would think that in Middlefield, with less than 40 students, can we really afford to pay for Gateway?” Suriner asked.
Myers said the the Hilltown Collaborative, which has been working on the Community Compact made with the state, has applied for a grant for a shared, full-time economic development coordinator for the six towns, which Myers said he thinks they’re going to get. They’ve also applied for a shared IT coordinator to help bring high-speed internet to all the towns.
Myers said the state is invested in the success of the collaborative, which could help change some of these trends, and draw new families to the area.
“Our six towns are getting some visibility right now. Good visibility, means a chance for more grants,” Myers said.
Myers said there will be a meeting of the Hilltown Collaborative on Thursday, March 2, at 7:30 pm at Haley House in Chester. At that meeting, they will hear a presentation from Elan Design, who have been working on suggestions for economic development for the area, and plan a public meeting to present their ideas.
Meanwhile, Montanaro suggested that GTAC ask Dr. Hopson to continue to describe, promote and encourage five-year rolling assessments in his column, and help the towns put warrants in for the annual meeting. He said that town officials could also support the effort with letters to the editor.
