Select Board Recap 04/01/2024 PART 1
Please note: in light of the length of the meeting I have opted to break this into two parts.
In attendance: Chair John Cronin, Vice Chair Tina Hein, Clerk Ben Sparrell, Town Administrator Travis Ahern.
Because Senate President Spilka is running a bit late we’re going to jump to board business first.
Ben made a motion to pay the weekly warrant, 2nd by Tina and approved.
Ben made a motion to approve two Citations for the Holliston Lions Club Heart of a Lion Award. Seconded by Tina and approved unanimously. John will be attending the Lions Club meeting and will present the citations.
Legislative Update from the Senate President Karen Spilka & State Representative James Arena-DeRosa
John thanked Senate President & State Rep and said this is one of the highlights of his year so we can hear about the work that you are doing for Holliston.
Senate President Spilka – thanks James for being a good partner to her during his tenure. Wants to assure the SB that they are there and willing to assist whenever possible. Getting to the budget: State revenues have declined over the last year. Not only are they below the 2024 projections but this year, the to-date revenues are behind last year’s at this time.
Revenue is down approximately $186 million over last year, and the fiscal 24 projection is down approximately $275 million which is a concern. Monthly tax collections have been below benchmark for the last nine months. It will be interesting to see how April collections are as this is typically one of the biggest months.
For a recap: Holliston has received $8.9 million in Chapter 70 (school) funds, representing an 11 percent increase between 22 and 24. Holliston also received $1.85 million in unrestricted funds, which was a 3.2 percent increase.
Senate President Spilka indicated she was aware of the town’s fiscal concerns, and they are currently taking a very cautious approach to revenue for the remainder of this year. The FY 25 proposed budget allocates just under $9 million for Holliston.
The budget is slated for a House vote in April, and a Senate vote in May. The 25 budget fully funds the circuit breaker. While it’s early in the budget process, we’ll certainly take your priorities into consideration and try to work them in as much as we can.
Some of the Holliston earmarks were cut back slightly but we got $25k for Central Street pedestrian improvements and $50k for student recreational facilities. This may include the property at 260 Woodland being a pickleball and bike park which is very exciting. We also got $125k for a multi-function school activity bus and $75k for Veterans Services assistance fund. We were also able to secure $600k for mental health services in the District I represent. Holliston was also awarded $510k plus some supplemental funds ($275k) for roads and bridges.
Congratulations to Holliston for their Envisioning Holliston plan and taking on the work for the housing production plan. I’d also like to acknowledge the hard work that has gone into the downtown sewer project – not only is this an ambitious project but it’s visionary and important to the community’s economic development.
Senate President Spilka indicated she was proud to continue to advocate for federal funding for the town, as well as the town’s application for a new high school and will continue to advocate on our behalf to ensure it keeps moving forward.
Senate President Spilka is watching the Woodland Street bridge project and will continue to advocate for the completion as soon as possible. She also mentions Chief Cassidy testified about a proposal for disaster relief. She is looking forward to celebrating Holliston’s 300th.
Representative James Arena-DeRosa opened by thanking Senator Spilka and her staff for their guidance and kindness as he works through the protocols and routines and he indicated he appreciates all they have done. James also thanked John for all of his service to Holliston. He indicated he appreciates John’s work as well as his guidance and advice.
On a more granular level, one of the most important pieces of legislation which was passed last year was universal school meals. This saves families on average $1200 per year on lunches. The senior circuit tax break also passed, and the estate tax cap has doubled.
We understand the school budgets will be pressed this year. James intends to continue to push for 90 percent reimbursement on out of District special education transportation and changing the multiplier from four to three so towns who are doing the right thing are not penalized.
I also was able to secure funding for the position of Economic Development Coordinator and I have had the opportunity to meet with her and I am looking forward to working more closely with her.
State Rep Arena-DeRosa says the best way to secure federal funding is to make sure you have a project first. He and Travis have been working closely with Congressman McGovern’s office – there are many programs on the federal level if we know what our end goal is.
James indicated a survey which was conducted through the senior center indicated nearly 40 percent of people did not know who to contact in government if they needed help. He stressed: CALL HIS OFFICE. We can help you find the right people whether it is federal, state or local.
James indicated he will be continuing the cookout which Carolyn Dykema (and those before her) kept going – he’s working on that. The road from 126 to Ashland is slated for repaving in 27 or 28 – this is primarily because of water main changes and if the town wants to change that they would have to reprioritize. There will be some repairs made and right now if you have specific concerns/complaints you may reach out to Travis, the DPW or James’ office.
The state is facing a lot of challenges as we transition to renewable and cleaner energy. We also want to make small businesses more viable.
One of my main concerns is housing affordability. It’s important to consider what might happen when the teachers, firefighters, coaches, and others who live and work in this town might no longer be able to afford to live here. Remember, if this happens, it also changes the character of our community, which always seems to be the concern when talking about affordable housing.
Senate President Spilka: I also wanted to mention that in addition to the free universal lunches, we were also able to get free Community College for those over the age of 25. We also included free training for aspiring nurses because we have a severe nursing shortage in Massachusetts. As a result, enrollment in Community Colleges is on an incline after declining for a long period of time.
We’ve also been making a big push for early education and care providers to allow parents to get back into the workplace if they choose. There is also new gun safety legislation which is conference committee right now.
There are also some new bills which address the housing shortage which include tax credits for market rate housing and affordable housing in addition to the housing bond bill.
Questions/Comments:
Q: Post retirement employment benefits are a huge liability. Is this something that the Commonwealth is taking a look at to provide the towns some relief?
A: (SP Spilka) – This is not currently on anyone’s radar. If you’re asking for state money to put towards this liability, we simply do not have those funds available at this time. If you’re simply asking for options for amending, we’re open to listening and talking more about that.
C: (John C) Holliston is one of the most aggressive in the state and we’re anticipating our liability will not be paid off until 2040. However, shouldn’t the state be considering telling municipalities what their target payoff dates is and when their liabilities should be cured?
A: (SP Spilka) Certainly willing to reach out to DOS, DLS and some of the state people and do a review on this and get feedback.
C: Advocating for additional funding for Chapter 70 – we’re seeing a far larger increase in tuition out of district due to mental health and behavioral health challenges that are going unaddressed. We’re also seeing a significant increase in special education costs. Appreciate the increase to 90 percent and the decrease from 4 to 3 times. How do we address this? This is not just a Holliston issue; it’s happening across the Commonwealth and across the country.
A: (SP Spilka) We’ve trying to increase statewide, but I’ve also targeted $600K to be used across the communities I represent to address mental health, specifically social emotional learning. We’re trying to pump as much into the school districts as possible. COVID made this worse, and it was already difficult.
C: Our transportation costs alone are $538k and this is putting a real burden on our budget. It would be helpful if the state could increase funding in this area.
C: We appreciate the federal funding for the free lunch program. It definitely leveled the playing field.
A: (SP Spilka) the federal funding expired, and the Commonwealth picked it up.
C: We also appreciate the fact that even though we do have some low-income families who benefit from this, even some of our wealthier students suffer from food insecurity and this removes any stigma regarding free lunches.
C: Travis has a list of pre-submitted questions, so I’d like to make a couple of comments. The idea that OPEB is going to be bailed out by the state is a fantasy! Remember that when these big issues come up, the state starts putting requirements in place to get the municipalities to address the issues on their own. There were several 9c’s in FY24. Do you think with the continued shortfalls we’re going to see more 9c’s (a reference to the section of the law granting the governor this unilateral authority) in FY24. Also have the 25 blueprints been adjusted to reflect the lower revenues we’re now seeing.
A: (SP Spilka) I currently hope there are no additional cuts, the later in the process these cuts happen the more painful they are. We are hoping if we have additional shortfalls that we can make up in other areas. When we did the 25 revenue forecasts we did cut it but it may still be too high. We’re hoping April gives us a better idea and we may find if it is not higher. Remember, we don’t expect a major recession. Unemployment numbers are good, GDP is good, and a lot of the indices are good, and our housing is even going up a bit right now. Cars are being sold, people are back in restaurants, receipts from meal taxes are good, so we’re hoping that things stabilize. So our hope is that it stabilizes over the next few months and begins going up but in the meantime, we’ll monitor it and adjust as needed.
C: I appreciate both of you very much and I appreciate you both. FY25 is already going to be a challenge for Holliston. If we know we’re going to get lower local aid numbers because of 9C then what is going to happen to our budgets.
A: (SP Spilka) we’ll have the numbers in April, but I clearly recall when I was on Ways and Means that we had to cut $1B from the budget in conference committee. We prefer that versus sending inflated information to cities and towns. It’s not fair because they depend on that information about appropriations to create their own budgets.
C: (Ben) Thank you both for being here and for all that you do for Holliston. We’re currently operating meetings remotely under executive order. Keeping minutes (which we’re very good at) and we also keep video, is there any movement to make this permanent?
A: (SP Spilka) – Both the House and the Senate did a supplemental budget which is just being finalized and has some extensions since it expired it March. However, I would be in favor of extending this permanently because it’s worked, it’s helped people get involved and the more people who participate the better.
A: (SR Arena-DeRosa) I think it’s been extended to July. If there are some parts of this which are not working, please share this with us.
C: (Ben) I’m happy to talk more about this offline but I’m hoping there are ways to streamline this.
C: (John) I agree – this tool has extended government into our living rooms and there’s never been better participation.
C: (Ben) this has been a wonderful addition; I just think there are some tweaks that could make this process better.
C: (John) I have a note here that says it ends on March 31, 2025, so we have some time to perfect the process.
C: (Tina) Thank you for being so generous with your time. Tina brought up the support for some of the projects in Holliston. She asked that there be more funding via surcharge for roadways. Holliston has more than 90 miles of local roads. We’re getting significantly less funding than other communities with similar situations. Keeping up with the repair of our roads is a challenge given the amount of traffic we have on a daily basis.
A: (SP Spilka) we’re hoping to only continue this support through the fair share amendment.
C: (John) Where are the revenues falling off in the state? With such big numbers is it across the board?
A: (SP Spilka) yes, it is across the board.
C: (John) At our Spring town meeting, we’ll be bringing up an article to transition from a Town Administrator to a Town Manager. Because we are a by-laws community, we are going to need your help as we had with the Deputy Fire Chief. This will be a modification of an existing bylaw
A: (SP Spilka) As soon as it has passed please forward it to me and the representative and we’ll work on it right away.
C: (John) we have a big parade on May 10th (well, it’s the 11th as many folks pointed out to John) and we hope you can come. Great to see you both and thank you again for all that you have done for Holliston.
