$132M for Fiscal 2025 – it’s your money

By Bob Hertz

You are asked to vote on April 30 for an override of $6.6M, most of which supports Acton Leadership Groups (ALG) Fiscal 2025 Plan A. ALG is our leadership team. The Warrant for Town Meeting of May 6 is out and reflects the following. Spending exceeds revenues by $7.9M. The shortfall is being covered by $5.4M or 82% of the override, $2.1M of reserves and a raid on the agreed funding of Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB) and of cemetery trust funds for $400K. The remaining override will be applied to levy limits of future years.

Fiscal 2025 ALG Plan A spending of $123.5M is an increase of $10.0M or 8.8% over expected Fiscal 2024 results of $113.5M. All operating budgets/assessments (excluding debt payments) are up well beyond inflation: Town 6.4%, ABRSD 10.9% and Minuteman 9.1%. Overall operating budgets are up $10M or 9.2%. Debt payments (agreed to in prior year bonding) are roughly equal for the two years. ALG includes operations and debt payments arriving at increased rates because the results tend to be lower on a combined basis.

If you vote all spending articles (4,5,6,7 8,9,28,29) in the upcoming warrant you will be voting for new spending of $132M. Actual spending for projects is much higher, and include Kelly’s Corner, the River Street dam, education of migrant students and our new taxi service to name a few. Funding for these items comes primarily from State and Federal coffers (i.e., our tax money). I suppose if we don’t use it someone else will – none-the-less a poor way to view how money is spent.

The Fiscal 2025 A Plan continues an alarming trend. Shortfalls of past and the current year have been covered by use of reserves which are now fairly-well depleted and, unless spending is cut, will likely be gone by fiscal 2028. We hear a great deal about layoffs, but budgets keep growing year over year. Something does not quite add up. Acton is currently among the top municipalities in tax as a % of income per capita per the Massachusetts Department of Revenue. The override, if passed, will push us further up the list.

An ALG Plan B will be presented, but not suggested. This is a fall back if Plan A is not passed April 30. Plan B is not a rosy picture. Some call it “the plan from Hell”. In at least one slide I have seen plan B calls for layoffs of police and fire personnel. I suggest there are many areas where costs can and should be reduced, and I have proposed several in the past – no need for safety layoffs. This is a typical scare tactic of those who want their way.

Prop 2 ½ became State law in 1980 to combat runaway budgets. The law allows for roughly 3% annual budget growth – tough to do when payrolls (Acton’s largest expense by far) run 4+% per annum. The law also allows for an override process (requiring voter approval) and resets the property tax calculation forever more – in this instance by the $6.6M request. The law provides checks and balances for a complexity of spending which most voters do not have the time to understand, and allows for a rethinking of priorities. Keep in mind that many Acton residents live on fixed incomes or low wages and do not have a reset button that can be pressed to provide additional funds to cover increasing spending – property tax or rent pass-throughs being a significant one. They must live within their means and juggle their priorities. They should expect no less of their community leaders.