Wildwood Elementary School
One important aspects of the major shake up proposed by school officials in the bricks and mortar make up of public education in our highly educated town is financial. A burden of course that falls on the taxpayers, which includes ALL residents -- not just homeowners.
For instance the Massachusetts School Building Authority is financed directly out of the somewhat high 6.25% state sales tax.
Therefor renters in town who purchase goods and services pay into the MSBA budget. And of course when property taxes go up landlords tend to pass that along via rent increases.
At $20.54/$1,000 Amherst already has one of the highest property tax rates in the entire state, ranked #14 out of 351. Well over the nearby city of Northampton, ranked #158, at $15.80/$1,000 or Hadley, the hardworking farm town next door, ranked #299 at $10.86/$1,000.
The statewide median average is $15.69/$1,000
Since the proposed funding mechanism is a "Debt Exclusion Override" it will require a two-thirds vote of Amherst Town Meeting, a majority vote of the Select Board to place it on the town ballot and a then majority approval of town voters, all before January 1st, 2017.
And the geriatric average age of Town Meeting could work against the proposal since most of the members no longer have children in the public schools.
The financial chart presented above is designed to show how fiscally responsible the proposal for a new mega-school is compared to the alternative at twice the amount.
But it's a tad disingenuous since it assumes Fort River would be renovated/replaced at 100% town taxpayer cost with Wildwood being renovated/replaced with a 50% reimbursement from MSBA.
And School Committee member Vira Douangmany Cage did point out last night that MSBA does pay for renovations short of complete overhauls via their "Major Repairs & Accelerated Repairs" programs, so if Fort River could be partially renovated with their assistance the overall cost would go down dramatically.
But there's no doubt consolidation saves money. Last night Superintendent Maria Geryk once again cited the $850,000 cost savings that resulted from the bitterly contested closing of Mark's Meadow Elementary School on the UMass campus.
For instance the Massachusetts School Building Authority is financed directly out of the somewhat high 6.25% state sales tax.
Therefor renters in town who purchase goods and services pay into the MSBA budget. And of course when property taxes go up landlords tend to pass that along via rent increases.
At $20.54/$1,000 Amherst already has one of the highest property tax rates in the entire state, ranked #14 out of 351. Well over the nearby city of Northampton, ranked #158, at $15.80/$1,000 or Hadley, the hardworking farm town next door, ranked #299 at $10.86/$1,000.
The statewide median average is $15.69/$1,000
A $200/year tax increase could vault Amherst into the top ten in the state
Since the proposed funding mechanism is a "Debt Exclusion Override" it will require a two-thirds vote of Amherst Town Meeting, a majority vote of the Select Board to place it on the town ballot and a then majority approval of town voters, all before January 1st, 2017.
And the geriatric average age of Town Meeting could work against the proposal since most of the members no longer have children in the public schools.
The financial chart presented above is designed to show how fiscally responsible the proposal for a new mega-school is compared to the alternative at twice the amount.
But it's a tad disingenuous since it assumes Fort River would be renovated/replaced at 100% town taxpayer cost with Wildwood being renovated/replaced with a 50% reimbursement from MSBA.
And School Committee member Vira Douangmany Cage did point out last night that MSBA does pay for renovations short of complete overhauls via their "Major Repairs & Accelerated Repairs" programs, so if Fort River could be partially renovated with their assistance the overall cost would go down dramatically.
But there's no doubt consolidation saves money. Last night Superintendent Maria Geryk once again cited the $850,000 cost savings that resulted from the bitterly contested closing of Mark's Meadow Elementary School on the UMass campus.
Interestingly the Town & Schools had signed a five year "Strategic Partnership Agreement" with UMass in 2007 acknowledging the value of free use of Mark's Meadow.
UMass clearly stated they would return to the negotiation table should Mark's Meadow ever close, which of course it did prior to the ending of the five year contract, which is now three years overdo for signing.
Currently Amherst public schools are educating 56 children emanating from UMass tax exempt family housing at an average annual cost of just over $19,000 per student, or over $1 million.
Yet UMass is now withholding the local option room tax at their Campus Center Hotel in an attempt to strong arm the town into signing a new Strategic Partnership that probably does not include reimbursement for the high education costs of their children.
So before Amherst taxpayers pass an Override for the schools they should require town officials get UMass to pay its fair share.
In addition the Select Board should show strong support for Representative Stephen Kulik's bill to require tax exempt institutions like Hampshire College (who pays the town nothing for AFD services) and Amherst College, who paid $130K this year, to pay 25% of their assessed value as a Payment In Lieu Of Taxes.
UMass clearly stated they would return to the negotiation table should Mark's Meadow ever close, which of course it did prior to the ending of the five year contract, which is now three years overdo for signing.
Currently Amherst public schools are educating 56 children emanating from UMass tax exempt family housing at an average annual cost of just over $19,000 per student, or over $1 million.
Click to enlarge/read
Yet UMass is now withholding the local option room tax at their Campus Center Hotel in an attempt to strong arm the town into signing a new Strategic Partnership that probably does not include reimbursement for the high education costs of their children.
So before Amherst taxpayers pass an Override for the schools they should require town officials get UMass to pay its fair share.
In addition the Select Board should show strong support for Representative Stephen Kulik's bill to require tax exempt institutions like Hampshire College (who pays the town nothing for AFD services) and Amherst College, who paid $130K this year, to pay 25% of their assessed value as a Payment In Lieu Of Taxes.