First and foremost, I want to wish everyone in Westfield and beyond a happy and healthy Thanksgiving. In these most challenging of times, we should stop and count our blessings for living in this great country of America.
During this past week, we received some very disturbing news from the State House. Governor Deval Patrick announced his intentions to cut local aid to cities and towns by some 25.5 million dollars. As you know, local aid is the money that goes directly from the state budget to city and town budgets. Local aid is truly the lifeblood of our communities throughout Massachusetts. Cutting local aid is absolutely unacceptable, and something I intend on strenuously opposing when the new Legislative year commences on January 7.
Before I get into the specific reasons why I oppose the Governor on this matter, I want to give you a brief background on how we got here in the first place. Earlier this week Governor Patrick announced that there is a $329 million dollar shortfall in the current fiscal year budget. One of the reasons this shortfall has occurred is because of the automatic drop in the States income tax rate from 5.2 percent to 5.15 beginning in January 2015. As a result, the Governor immediately began cutting various programs from the current fiscal year budget in order to balance the budget and make up for the shortfall. Massachusetts, unlike the federal government, has a constitutional requirement that the budget be balanced.
So given this Constitutional restriction, the issue then becomes what budget cuts do we make in order to balance the budget and comply with the State Constitution. This is where my issue with the Governor’s proposal begins.
It is difficult for me to overstate the importance of local aid to a city like Westfield. Local aid helps pay for our schools and education; for upkeep and fixing of our roads (think potholes); for our police and fire protection; as well as many other items included in our city budget. Local aid levels have been cut exponentially since 2008 to the point where many municipal governments throughout Massachusetts are facing unprecedented financial hardship. Making additional local aid cuts halfway through the fiscal year when municipalities like Westfield have already passed their budgets defies logic, and puts cities like Westfield in the precarious position of having to adjust and reconsider spending priorities halfway thru the fiscal year. This is grossly unfair to our friends and colleagues in city government.
The main reason I am opposed to local aid cuts, however, is the affect that these cuts have on property taxes throughout Massachusetts. In communities like Westfield, It is common knowledge that there is a direct correlation between a decrease in local aid from state government and an increase in property taxes at the local level. When the state decreases the amount of funds it sends to cities and towns in the form of local aid it often sends shock waves through cities like Westfield’s municipal budget. Municipalities need to make up for this loss of revenue somehow, and the most common way to do so is by raising property taxes.
One of the main concerns I heard as I knocked on thousands of doors campaigning throughout Westfield is that Westfield citizens are hurting financially because of increased property taxes. I made a promise to the residents of Westfield that I would do everything in my power at the state level to try and prevent these burdensome tax increases in Westfield. It is a promise I fully intend on keeping starting with my opposing Governor Patrick’s proposal.
On a final note I think it’s encouraging to know that both Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo and Governor-Elect Charlie Baker have expressed their strong opposition to the Governor’s proposal to reduce local aid.
As always, I value your opinion and look forward to hearing from you. Thank you. John Velis
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not the staff, editor, or publisher of this publication.
