Chasing Moonrise

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Live Free or Die?

Let me count a few more reasons why the living may not be so free in NH, a state which I happen to love by the way, which is frequently pointed to as an idyllic model of limited government.

First OPINION from an on line chat:

Actually, NH DOES have a revenue shortfall problem (NOT a spending problem) because it cannot meet its fiscal obligations such as maintaining the present-day highways & roads, etc.; paying for its share of the minimally poor "adequate education" costs; paying for its share of municipal and county government operating costs; paying for its share of the NHRS costs; paying for its share of operating the correctional facilities (had to close the Laconia facility due to lack of sufficient funds); paying its share of the maintenance and repair/reconstruction of bridges (especially those on the red list); paying for its share of the courts' system costs (employees had to take furlough days, personal sacrifices, just to balance that portion of the state budget; paying for its share of maintaining and repair of the several hundred state owned dams in NH; paying for its share of the costs to abutters of the Suncook River who were adversely impacted three and fours years ago; paying for its share of the many, many other statutory obligations; etc.
No Ron, NH lacks sufficient revenue, which is another way of saying the problem is the reverse of spending too much. It does not have enough money to spread around. Therefore, people make and continue to make sacrifices just so the politicians can continue to fail to do their job correctly.
- Gary, Chichester

http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=The+camp+tax%3A+Kill+it+before+spring&articleId=f0bb1bf4-c394-4a47-8d8c-34cde6b7a790

Next those annoying things called Facts:

NH Real Estate Transfer Tax
1.5% on the sales of land and buildings. In other words, I buy a house in NH, then the tax is imposed on both the buyer and the seller at the rate of $.75 per $100 of the price for the sale, granting, or transfer. I buy a $300,000, then I pay $2250 as the buyer and the seller pays $2250.
http://www.revenue.nh.gov/faq/dra_800.htm

Meals and Rentals Tax
An 9% tax is assessed upon patrons of hotels and restaurants, on rooms and meals costing $.36 or more. An 9% tax is also assessed on motor vehicle rentals and campsites. Hmm, that seems to be higher than the current MA meals tax of 6.25%.

Property Tax
Hey, they even have State Education Property Tax, which is a state education property tax rate of total equalized valuation which is assessed on all New Hampshire property owners. The tax is assessed and collected by local municipalities.

http://www.revenue.nh.gov/munc_prop/2009.htm
Then click on the Word Document "2009 Property Tax Rates"

Good thing you don't live in Exeter NH or you'd be paying a rate of (based on $1,000 value of home) :

• Town Tax $6.63
• Local Education Tax $12.60
• State Education Tax $2.37
• County Tax $1.02
• Total Tax $22.62

So leaving aside the question of how correct the assessments are:

• if you owned a $400,000 home in Newburyport which has a rate of $11.66, you'd pay $4,664 in annual property tax
  
• if you owned a $400,000 home in Exeter which has a rate of $22.62, you'd pay $9,048.

I saved you the hassle of sorting through the Word document and dumped the data into Excel (which I'm happy to email it to anyone) to make sense of it.

• Median Town Tax $4.14
• Median Local Education Tax $9.17
• Median State Education Tax $2.26
• Median County Tax $1.38
• Median Total Tax $18.28

Hey I'm not saying Massachusetts residents are taxed less, but the notion that NH residents pay next to nothing in taxes is ridiculous. Remember that the next time you pay at the Hampton tolls;-).

YWCA and Affordable Housing

http://ywcanewburyport.org/luncheon.html


YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO ATTEND
THE ENGAGING COMMUNITIES LUNCHEON

AFFORDABLE HOUSING:

The Honorable Donna Holaday, Mayor Of Newburyport, Honorary Chairperson

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31, 2010
12 NOON TO 1:30 PM

Mission Oak Grill
26 Pleasant Street,
Newburyport, MA 01950

As the YWCA moves into its 127th year of providing housing for women and families, we welcome you to join us for an insightful overview of the current and future demands for affordable housing, one of our communities’ most fundamental and essential needs.

GUEST SPEAKER:

Karen Frederick, Executive Director, Community Teamwork, Inc.

AND SPECIAL RECOGNITION TO THE YWCA’S COMMUNITY CHAMPIONS:

Mark J. Moquin, Esq, President, Newburyport Affordable Housing Corporation
&
Madeline Nash, Director Of Real Estate, Coalition For A Better Acre

Lead Sponsor:

Lead Sponsor: Institution for Savings

Click here for the Reply Card

Lowell Sun: Tough local-aid forecast on the way

Tough local-aid forecast on the way

By Matt Murphy, mmurphy@lowellsun.com

Updated: 03/11/2010 06:35:54 AM EST

BOSTON -- City and town officials could get the bad news before the end of the week that local aid to schools and government services will be slashed by as much as 5 percent in next year's state budget.

The hope of passing a local-aid resolution vanished early this week with House and Senate leaders now resigned to giving municipal officials a more vague outline of state assistance that will include cuts to school and government aid, in hopes of helping local city and town officials craft their own budgets this spring.

Negotiations for a proposed resolution broke down over House Speaker Robert DeLeo's reluctance to commit to a predetermined local-aid total so early in the state budget process with tax collections and revenues for the coming months still uncertain, according to Democratic lawmakers in both the House and Senate.

Instead, Senate President Therese Murray and DeLeo are preparing to issue a joint statement as soon as today or tomorrow that would instruct local leaders to prepare for a more general cut of up to 5 percent, or possibly more, in Chapter 70 and unrestricted local aid.

No matter how they do it, the amount of local aid returned by the state to cities and towns will be significantly less than what Gov. Deval Patrick proposed with his own budget proposal in January.

A 5 percent cut would reduce state aid to cities and towns by about $250 million next year, likely forcing layoffs of police, teachers and firefighters.

"I think it's going to be devastating," said state Rep. Kevin Murphy, D-Lowell. "But at the same time, if we don't have the revenue, how can we be promising cities and towns money that we're going to have to cut down the road?"

Municipal leaders have been pressuring Beacon Hill to pass a resolution as soon as possible so that they can confidently present budgets to their own city councils and boards of selectmen without worrying that aid would be slashed come July 1 when the state budget is due.

Some towns will begin hosting Town Meetings as soon as next week to debate budgets for schools, public safety and local services that are dependent on aid from the state.

"I would have liked to have done a local-aid resolution two months ago, but I will go along with this statement," Murray told reporters Tuesday.

The Legislature did, in fact, pass a local-aid resolution in advance of the budget debate in 2008, but did not follow suit last year. Some Democratic House lawmakers suggested privately that DeLeo has been reluctant to force his members to vote on a resolution to cut local aid in an election year, hoping to protect them over the next month from drawing Republican or even Democratic challengers.

State Sen. Steve Panagiotakos, chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, has also been pushing for an agreement on local aid. Though he said he would prefer to give local officials a concrete number to work with, he said even a general commitment on local aid is critical to helping communities plan.

Panagiotakos warned a month ago that local aid would have to be cut at least 3 percent, or $150 million.

Patrick, in his budget proposal, presented a plan that would level-fund Chapter 70 at $4.05 billion and unrestricted aid at $936 million next year, relying on a mix of reserves and new taxes to limit the hit on cities and towns.

Lawmakers, however, have expressed little interest in raising any new taxes, forcing deeper cuts to come from local aid and state social-service programs.

"It's a no-win situation," said Rep. Stephen DiNatale, D-Fitchburg.

DiNatale, along with 12 other House Democrats, signed on to a Republican push that calls for a local-aid resolution guaranteeing level funding in Chapter 70, the largest pot of local aid for schools. The Republican minority plans to push the resolution during the next House formal session.

DiNatale said he joined with the GOP to help force a conversation, even though he is skeptical the state can afford to level-fund local aid.

"The sooner we can do something the better, obviously. The communities want to know how to plan," DiNatale said. "I signed on to (Minority Leader) Brad Jones's resolution to level-fund, even though I don't have any real confidence we're going to end up there. I needed to make an effort to get the dialogue going on our side of the aisle."

State Rep. Jim Arciero, D-Westford, also signed Jones' resolution, because he believes it is important to help cities and towns plan early for potentially painful cuts. He also filed a bill more than a year ago that would have required a local-aid resolution to be voted on every year by March 1.

"The most important issue for these towns right now is planning, and in order to do so we have to give them an accurate number," said Arciero, who represents Westford, Littleton and part of Chelmsford. "My towns have all shown fiscal foresight and have all planned for a 5 percent reduction. That is something we warned when we talked to them in January."

Read more: http://www.lowellsun.com/todaysheadlines/ci_14654024#ixzz0hsaVH0cy

Lawmakers rip Mass. mayors’ health plan - The Boston Globe

Lawmakers rip Mass. mayors’ health plan - The Boston Globe

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Paid Parking?

Interesting online discussions at the Daily News site worth checking out here:

http://www.newburyportnews.com/permalink/local_story_059225336.html

At the City's website, you can find a compilation of many parking studies: http://www.nbpt.us/Planning/Parking.html

Especially worth checking out is the 2005 report: http://www.nbpt.us/Planning/ParkingStudies/Downtown%20Newburyport%20Parking%20Planning%20Study%20-%20Traffic%20Solutions.pdf

The purpose of this study was:

The City of Newburyport, Massachusetts proposes to create a paid off-street parking program. The purpose of this program is to more efficiently manage limited public parking resources. In addition, the program expects to generate revenue to provide funds for the construction of additional public parking. Specifically, the City anticipates that parking revenues would be used to offset capital and soft costs associated with a structured public parking facility in the Central Business District.

This study has been prepared to assist the City in its efforts to identify the scope of the off-street paid parking program. This report provides the information necessary to develop sound public policy for the creation of the program. It is also intended to provide a blueprint for the implementation of the plan.

I have heard from a couple of constituents on 'paid parking' including the argument that it will 'destroy the downtown' economy. The old days of parking meters get brought up. My sense is that the downtown was stagnant back in the day, not because of parking meters, but because many downtown buildings were abandoned as a nation got in cars and shopped at plazas and malls.

My thinking at the moment via a few random thoughts:

• If we want more park on the waterfront (and I do), we will need to find substitute spaces and/or better manage the existing off-street parking spots and on-street spots.
• Before building a garage, we ought to be certain that we need it.
• Paid parking obviously would bring in net revenue to the City (see the end of the 2005 report for those estimates) and can assist with debt service on a garage (assuming we build one) or capital and operating expense for public waterfront space.
• If priced correctly and with the correct time limits, paid parking can end shopper cruising around the block (tell me you haven't buzzed around a few times to get a spot in front of Pizza Factory for that 3 minute pickup) and downtown workers moving their cars every few hours. (Late note: a reader correctly observed that I originally wrote 'Famous' Pizza which is not downtown. Mea culpa.)
  
• I don't see how you can charge in municipal lots and not charge for street parking.
• Downtown worker and senior 'discounts' can be built in. Parking spillover into residential areas can be addressed. Snow emergency parking can be addressed.
• We need better overall transportation planning. Take a look at a passing and often empty Merrimack Valley Regional Transit Authority #51 bus and you will know that we need better planning. We need better connections between the commuter rail station, the Park and Ride on Route 95, and new/old ways of getting around like bicycles. For an example of a community which has embraced a more comprehensive approach to transportation and parking, we could learn from Portsmouth's approach, in particular how they operate a 'seasonal downtown loop.'

It would be great to get your comments via this blog. Just hit the 'comment' button.

Thanks, Ed

MAYOR’S PUBLIC FORUM, Saturday, March 6th 9AM-Noon

MAYOR’S PUBLIC FORUM

Mayor Donna D. Holaday has scheduled a Public Forum to be held on Saturday,
March 6, 2010 in the High School Auditorium from 9:00 a.m. until noon. This forum
will be hosted by the Mayor’s Transition Team and the City’s Department Heads.
The purpose of this 3 hour forum is to acquaint residents with the workings of the
City’s departments, what their role is within the City and what each department’s
function is for the City.

In her Inaugural Address Mayor Holaday challenged every resident to become part of
the solution to the many needs of Newburyport; recognizing the good judgment and
wisdom that our citizens possess the Mayor would invite all those interested to
become involved in many of the boards and commissions that work to make this City
the place one would wish to work, live and grow in. In a statement Mayor Holaday
remarked that “our City has many wonderful community resources, employees and
volunteers who, working together can accomplish many of our common goals.”

For more information contact Beth Tremblay Hall at mrsfixit.bth@gmail.com or by
phone at 9784629554.

From the Republican: Financial aid proposed for municipalities

from the Springfield Republican newspaper that is....

http://www.masslive.com/springfield/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-26/126570882753000.xml&coll=1

Financial aid proposed for municipalities

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

By DAN RING

Staff writer

BOSTON - Gov. Deval L. Patrick is pushing new bills to help the finances of cities and towns, including measures to authorize early retirements and extend payments for future pensions.

Municipal leaders welcome the bills, but say Patrick should also back a proposal to clear communities to cut health-insurance costs by increasing co-pays and deductibles for employees without union approval.

Patrick's "municipal partnership act II" follows his successful efforts to pass other bills to help municipalities, including last year's new local option tax on restaurant meals, an increased local option tax on motel rooms and elimination of loopholes that boosts collection of property taxes from telecommunications companies.

The bills also come during a fiscal crisis in state government that forced the governor and legislators to cut a major category of local aid last year by 29 percent, putting more financial pressure on communities.

"It is essential to provide additional tools to cities and towns for continuing to manage through this challenging budgetary cycle and maintain essential local services for residents," the governor said in introducing his bills.

Geoffrey C. Beckwith, executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association, criticized a 2007 law that allows communities to join the state's Group Insurance Commission, the health insurance plan for state employees, saying it's not a solution for most communities.

Instead, communities need a new law to give them the power to design health plans without union approval, Beckwith said.

The state insurance commission is not required to negotiate with state unions when designing its health plan. Unlike the state, communities need to bargain on items such as co-pays and deductibles, he said, and it is often impossible to get unions to agree to increases.

In order to close a deficit, the state commission, for example, recently unilaterally approved increases in co-pays and established a new annual deductible of at least $250 for members.

The 2007 law has not attracted droves of communities to the state health plan. Since approval of the law in July 2007, 18 municipalities, seven school districts and four councils, commissions or districts have joined the state program.

The administration maintains communities are saving millions of dollars by joining the state insurance system. Springfield has saved between $19 and $30 million since joining in January 2007, the administration said.

The governor is open to working with communities on giving them new authority to design health insurance, but unions and other stakeholders need to be involved, a spokeswoman said.

Communities are taking advantage of local option taxes passed last year.

Beckwith said he expects even more communities to approve a new .75 percent local tax on restaurant meals and an increased local motel tax during town meetings this spring. So far, 69 communities have approved hiking the motel tax from 4 percent to 6 percent, including Amherst, Deerfield, Greenfield, Hadley, Hatfield, Ludlow, Northampton and Sturbridge,

A total of 72 communities approved the new local tax on restaurant meals, including Chicopee, Deerfield, Hadley, Hatfield, Palmer, Sturbridge, Sunderland, West Springfield and Springfield.

Beckwith and others say they like the governor's proposals for optional early retirement and further spreading out annual payments needed to pay the pensions of future retirees.

Under Patrick's bill, communities would be given until 2040 to fully fund pension plans, up from 2030. Patrick said he wants to help compensate for sharp 2008 losses in pension funds, which help finance pensions.

Chicopee Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette said annual pension payments are about $14 million, or close to 10 percent of his city's $150 million budget.

About $7 million is for funding current pensions, and the other half goes for funding future pensions, he said. If the payments are stretched out, that could cut in half the city's $7 million annual costs for future pensions, Bissonnette said.

Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said the pension and early retirement proposals could help the city, but both would need to be analyzed. The city's budget could benefit from extending pension payments, but an early retirement plan would only be adopted if it was cost-effective, Sarno said.

Patrick's bill would cut jobs by encouraging employees to retire early. In order to be eligible, employees would need at least 20 years of service. Employees could increase their pension checks by having up to three years of service or age added to the formula that is used to determine retirement benefits. They would need to relinquish accrued sick and vacation time. The bill says communities could only replace 30 percent of the early retirees in the fiscal year that starts July 1, 45 percent the following year and 60 percent by the third year.

West Springfield Mayor Edward J. Gibson said his city might be better off keeping to its current pension funding schedule since Patrick's bill would only delay payments that eventually need to be made. Gibson said he will review proposed early retirement plan. "It gives us some tools that will help us through tough times," Gibson said of Patrick's bills.

FY2011 Local Aid Proposals

From MA Dept of Revenue

The FY2011 local aid estimates based on Governor Deval Patrick’s budget proposal have been posted to the Division of Local Services’ web site at the link below:

http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=dorsubtopic&L=5&L0=Home&L1=Local+Officials&L2=Municipal+Data+and+Financial+Management&L3=Cherry+Sheets&L4=FY2011+Local+Aid+Proposals&sid=Ador

The Governor's FY2011 budget proposal for full funding of Chapter 70 at $4.048 billion replaces the federal stimulus dollars used in FY2010 with state General Fund dollars for FY2011. To compare the level of FY2011 Chapter 70 with FY2010 Chapter 70 it is important to consider these funds. The FY2010 state budget included in outside section 3 “Potential Allocation of Federal Funds from the ARRA State Fiscal Stabilization Fund.” Budget language in section 3 indicated that these funds “…shall not appear on the cherry sheet produced by department of revenue.” In preparing the local aid estimates for FY2011 a line has been added under Chapter 70 entitled “SFSF to Maintain Foundation Spending” and when added to the FY2010 Chapter 70 provides an accurate comparison of the funding level between FY2010 and FY2011.

Although the FY2011 total level of funding for state-owned land is the same as the FY2010 level, local officials should be aware that these estimates are based on the recent revaluation of property eligible for reimbursement under the state-owned land program. In many cases, there are significant changes from the FY2010 estimates.

Please be advised that these estimates are based on the appropriation levels appearing in the Governor’s FY2011 budget proposal (House 2) and may change as the legislative process unfolds and proposed appropriation levels change.

Please note that Charter School and School Choice assessments may change significantly when updated to reflect spring enrollment data and final tuition rates.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE) has published the Chapter 70 aid calculations, minimum contributions and net school spending requirements on the Office of School Finance web site at:

http://finance1.doe.mass.edu/chapter70/chapter_11_p.html

To review additional information about how the estimates were determined and what may cause them to change in the future, click on the link at the bottom for an index of the FY2011 programs and links to individual explanations.

O'Brien ends run on 'Tonight' show after 7 months

At first I thought this about City Council President Tom O'Brien, but thankfully he's lasted more than 7 months...he's made it into 7 terms.

No, it's Conan....

http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2010/01/23/obrien_thanks_fans_nbc_on_final_tonight_show/

The red-haired comic joined a band led by blond-wigged comic Will Ferrell with Beck and ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons for a raucous rendition of "Free Bird." O'Brien is free to move on now himself, after accepting a $45 million buyout from NBC to leave the show he long dreamed of hosting after only seven months.

Here's how I can connect Conan's departure to Newburyport politics....now we know why we're paying ridiculous amounts to get mediocre cable TV service!

Reschedule of Joint Hearing: Wind Energy and Moveable Signs

Revamping the Wind Energy Ordinance and looking at regulating 'Moveable Vehicular Signs' were two issues that the last Council was working on at the end of the term. These items came out of Committee and the next step was a Joint Hearing with the Planning Board.

A Joint Hearing of the Council's Planning and Development Committee and the Planning Board was not able to be scheduled prior the end of the session; however, to get these matters on the calendar of the Planning Board, a Joint Hearing was scheduled for this Wed, January 20th.

Since all pending matters at the end of the session essentially 'die' per the Council's rules, these matters were resubmitted in the new session at our first meeting on January 11th. At that time, the City Clerk determined that the proper process was to re-publicize a Joint Hearing with the proper 14 days notice.

In a nutshell, the Planning Board's meeting of January 20th will not be a Joint Hearing on Wind and Moveable Signs.

Ed Cameron