Mayor, School Supt. Say Local Aid Increase not Enough
– Allison Goldsberry
The modest increase in local aid for Medford in Governor Deval Patrick’s proposed budget still leaves Medford $600,000 “in the hole” come budget time this summer.
According to Mayor Michael McGlynn, the Governor’s proposed budget relies on $800 million in expected casino licensing fees and a corporate tax raise, something that the legislature has yet to approve. And if those fees don’t come through, Medford will start off the budget process with a $1.7 million gap before it has to factor in rising costs.
“This is all very preliminary, but it’s not good,” said Mayor McGlynn, speaking before Monday night’s School Committee meeting.
McGlynn said the city would again rely on “innovation and creativity to hold things together” during the budget process for fiscal year 2009, because the city will face another “challenged budget.”
“In the end, we’ll have a balanced budget…but it’s how you get there,” said McGlynn, referring to potential cuts and consolidations.
According to McGlynn, closing the so-called telecomm tax loophole would mean $600,000 for Medford alone. A proposed 1% meals tax and 1% hotel tax equal nearly $700,000 for the city.
McGlynn and School Superintendent Roy Belson criticized a new formula that computes a community’s aggregate wealth to determine how much aid it should receive. According to McGlynn, the formula changed three years ago and hurts communities like Medford, Arlington, Melrose, and Somerville.
Superintendent Belson called Medford a “tweener community” in that it “sits between urban poor and wealthy communities.” He said Medford gets penalized as a result, and that the city is receiving less money for fiscal year 2009 than it did in fiscal year 2003.
Belson said the city received $12.5 million in state education aid for 2003 and is receiving less than that for 2009. Under the Governor’s proposed budget, Medford will receive $12,492,967, an increase of just over $400,000 from last year.
The Governor’s budget is currently in the state legislature and it will be months before the city receives final budget figures from the state.
Just to be clear, the article says that:
“According to McGlynn, closing the so-called telecomm tax loophole would mean $600,000 for Medford alone. A proposed 1% meals tax and 1% hotel tax equal nearly $700,000 for the city.”
Would there still be a deficit with the approval of these two items?
House 1 will request additional funds for the Governors pet projects.
At best, first you hear that cities and towns will receive more aid….
This is Ghost money – you hear it will be delivered by hpoefully the Legislature… until it happens it is “only GHOST MONEY “……….