"there was an effort to accurately adjust the increased revenue available to give $1 million to the school department". When a motion is made to REMOVE $923,000 from the school budget, it remains that there will be $923,000 LESS in that budget. Semantics aside, I hope that town meeting members will join me in rejecting this motion.

Mr. Anderson,

Thank you for attempting to clarify to the situation. You are correct when you say, "municipal financing is a complex issue" and can appreciate that your VOLUNTEER role is probably more daunting than any other paid position.
As a new town meeting representative, I have versed myself on the budget and attended many public hearings, so I am aware of your timelines yet it still seems extremely late to make changes. But like I said I am new. I am hopeful that the BOS will provide the reasons for the shift of funds from the finance committee budget, especially when it is not earmarked to a specific department. Where do you foresee the additional dollars being used?
As a taxpayer I, of course, want my dollars spent wisely on ALL the services that Stoughton offers. I guess I am simply looking for as much transparency from our local government. I am sure it is no one’s intent but lately there appears to be a power struggle at the expense of the residents. I hope this is not the case, but as a lifelong resident I am saddened by even the possibility.

Thank you for your time,
Christine

Hi Christine and fellow residents of Stoughton,

$3.2 million became available after the Board of Selectmen passed a budget on 1/18/11. The MA House of Representatives raised local aid projections when they passed their budget on 4/14/11 and the Fincom lowered the projected cost of health insurance, etc for all town and school employees (in the joint accounts) by $1 million. That meant that $3.2 million over the BOS recommendation was available to be allocated in the last 2 weeks. Fincom chose to give $1.9 to the school department., $300k to municipal departments and $1 million to the stabilization fund. All I said was give $1 million more to the school department and put the other $900k aside to be addressed at a later date until we see if the new revenues and health insurance savings materialize. The reality is that collectively we just experienced the worse financial crisis in a generation. We were trying give the schools more money and still be fiscally responsible. I supported an increase of $1 million over the original BOS education budget. This isn't last minute maneuvering, it had to be discussed in a legally posted and scheduled meeting of the BOS. We've only had 2 meetings since the the House budget came out. The notion we are trying to short change the schools is not the case.

Steve Anastos
Stoughton Board of Selectmen

Dear Steve,
Although I appreciate your attempt to clarify the budget issue above, I find it disingenuous to portray the numbers as you have when in reality a $923K of the schools side had been decreased by the BOS from the School Committee budget and was not the starting or ending point for FinCom's review or approval. So in this respect I agree with "snydersstoughton" above. It would also seem that you are not accurately representing the funds that were distributed to the "town" side as they equalled far more then $300K if you look at the budget as FinCom did. The 5% cuts were entirely restored and numerous new positions were added, all of this totaling far more then the $300K you claim it represents.

Quoting FinCom Vice Chair Rick Hill: " his committee has really thought out the 2012 budget proposed to Town Meeting, and has treated everyone equally. "We increased the schools 4.17% over the 2011 budget. We increased the town side 4.08% over last year’s budget. We restored cuts to all the departments in town, funding seven new positions. "

So what is true, your version or his?

These are the facts:

The Town Manager, supported by avote of the Board of Selectmen CUT the School Committee's budget request initially by TWO MILLION DOLLAR when money was tight. The budget THEY PASSED had the schools taking $300,000 LESS than the previous year's budget. So, when money was "found", even if the BOS support ADDING A MILLION, as John and Steve have written, that's close enough to level funding that prevents our schools from moving forward, and instead has them running in place. Then, a motion handed out at Town Meeting to TAKE $923,000 FROM the SCHOOL BUDGET, makes it even worse. Any way you spin it, boys, this is NOT good for the SCHOOLS or the TOWN! If the Board of Selectmen has any kind of feel for what the people want, they'll never make that motion. If they do, I predict there will be an endless parade of opposition and it will be soundly defeated.

Mark’s raised some key points and I felt compelled to comment as I opposed the reduction being proposed so late in the process. While updated revenues may have been announced recently the Committee on Finance and Taxation voted their budget on March 31, 2011 and had it published in the warrant two weeks later for town meeting. I offer the following figures from the warrant and point out the total education budget includes the Stoughton Schools, our assessment for Southeastern Regional and this year also includes 20,000 for Norfolk Aggie Service.

Category FY11 ATM FY12 BOS FY12 FinCom
Joint Account 15,406,958 16,810,116 15,828,986
Town Funds 16,478,584 16,776,539 17,032,195
Stoughton Ed 34,459,398 34,088,906 35,935,654
Total Education 35,461,398 35,120,966 37,016,735

The School Department requested a budget for the Stoughton Schools of 36,030,654 which neither the BOS or Committee on Finance and Taxation fully funded. We all know the budget process is done with revenue figures that are fluid as we await the House and Senate to produce their budgets. The BOS did vote their budget on January 18, 2011. The Committee on Finance and Taxation then held 11 hearings before voting their budget on March 31, 2011. It is my belief the BOS had time during these hearings to request changes to the budget. I have yet to see any analysis on what ramifications this 923,374 reduction would have on the schools and is why I oppose the reduction.

John Anzivino
Selectman

Mr. Anastos: Master Politician. Should I list the time line of your votes along with the timeline of popular opinion?

Mr. Crimmins, please tell me your aware that FinCom and TM approved the initial UNCUT budget AND hired how many new positions? Why are you trying to back peddle?

I would like to thank the board of selectmen for doing the right thing by not motioning their 923K proposed cut. Granted an even more proposterous cut of 1.4 million was proposed and defeated. It is nice to know that the schools will be status quo next year, and I admire the administators for not taking increases!

The Board of Selectmen didn't do us any favors, Christine. The three who passed that proposed cut in the first place read the tea leaves. They knew it would go down to certain defeat. They'd deserve more admiration if they stuck to their guns and followed through. They would have lost big time, but garnered some respect. As it is, the most vocal tried to paint himself as a school supporter. He really IS a politician!