OPINION: Relatively High Westwood Tax Rates are Reason to Delay Costs of New Fire Station

The following opinion article represents the views and opinions of the author, and not necessarily those of Westwood Minute.

By Peter T. Ittig, Ph.D.

By now Westwood voters and taxpayers should have received the flyer/warrant for the Special Town Meeting on January 17th, and a tax bill due February 1st. These are important documents. The tax bill should be examined carefully as it shows the new assessed valuation for your home (“Taxable Value”), the new tax rates and your new Total Tax for FY2024 (tax rate times taxable value). The new assessed values for single-family-homes are up by an average of 25%, as reported in a prior article (link below). The deadline for appealing for an abatement of your assessment is February 1st.

The tax bill has an enclosure with some explanatory information. The first page of that document shows that the tax rate is down for FY2024. However, the assessed values are up and there is a substantial tax increase for FY2024 averaging 12% for single-family-homes, as shown in the small print next to the table on the last page of the enclosure and in a prior article (link below). Much of the tax increase is needed to cover the cost of the override for the new school (Hanlon/Deerfield/Pine Hill) as payments begin on the bonds for that override.

The new residential tax rate continues to be high in comparison with nearby communities as reported in a prior article (link below). The 12% increase in property taxes for single-family-homes will be a budget issue for some taxpayers. Also, high relative tax rates may have economic consequences as they may influence choice behavior. Some financial assistance is available from the Town for those of limited means.

The Special Town Meeting on January 17th has two articles. The first concerns funding the design of a new Fire Station that will require another tax override. Warrant article #1 shows the cost as $2.1 million; however, the correct total cost of the Fire Station design project is $3.5 million. An additional $1.4 million is to be taken from Federal ARPA funds, which could be used for other purposes. See the reference to ARPA funds in the discussion on page 6 of the mailer/warrant that you received for the Special Town Meeting where it says that “These funds are not restricted as to how the Town uses the money”. ARPA is the Federal American Rescue Plan Act which provided the Town with about $5 million following the Covid epidemic.

The Town has taken the position that the spending of Federal ARPA funds does not require approval by the Town Meeting and may be used at the discretion of the Select Board. However, the $2.1 million to be taken from “Free Cash” does require Town Meeting approval in Warrant article #1. “Free Cash” is taxpayer money that remains unspent from prior years.

The Town has used millions of dollars in Federal ARPA funds for various purposes, including about $2.1 million to cover part of the cost overruns on the Hanlon/Pine Hill School (over $4 million so far). That spending was not appropriated or approved by the Town Meeting. Another $2 million was transferred from a reserve fund called the University Station Mitigation Fund to the building project.

Another perspective is that, were it not for the cost overruns on the Hanlon school, ARPA funds could have covered the entire $3.5 million cost of the Fire Station design and more, and we would not need the Special Town Meeting on January 17.

The Fire Station proposal actually involves two separate construction projects. The first is the construction of a temporary fire station proposed to be on the site of the old American Legion Hall. This is located between the new police station and the soon-to-be-vacant Deerfield School. This temporary facility is to be used while the old fire station is torn down and a new one is built on the same site. Only rough estimates of the total cost of the new fire station project are available, but it is expected to be over $35 million.

It is my opinion that Westwood should support the new fire station, but not now, since current tax rates are relatively high in comparison with nearby communities and since taxpayers need to absorb the large tax increase this year and perhaps more next year. More bonds to pay for the Hanlon override are to be issued. A logical time to do another override is when one of our existing overrides rolls off. This will next occur when the bonds for the new library are paid off in about 7 years. In the meantime, I suggest that the Town should maintain Town buildings properly and not allow them to deteriorate to the point where they need to be replaced.

The second article at the Special Town Meeting (Article #2) transfers $400 thousand that was previously borrowed for a fire truck, but not used for that purpose, to “pay a portion of the costs of the Hanlon School Project…”. This is presented as simply changing the purpose of previously borrowed funds, not an increase in spending for the Hanlon School project. The funds would replace some of the debt for the school that has been authorized but not yet issued, perhaps at a lower interest rate. As such, it is unobjectionable.

See related items:

https://westwoodminute.town.news/g/westwood-ma/n/231190/property-tax-rate-comparison-chart-westwood-and-area-municipalities

https://westwoodminute.town.news/g/westwood-ma/n/228360/explaining-estimated-impact-westwood-property-tax-rate-increase-fy2024

https://westwoodminute.town.news/g/westwood-ma/n/227943/westwood-taxes-preliminary-property-assessments-and-funding-fire-station-1

Thanks to Professor Peter T. Ittig for contributing this opinion article to Westwood Minute. Professor Ittig was a member of the of the Westwood Finance & Warrant Commission from 2019 to 2022.

Westwood Minute takes no position on the opinion articles that it publishes, but seeks accurate and thoughtful commentary on topics that matter to our community, from a variety of differing viewpoints. Feel free to reply with your reaction below, or submit another perspective to WestwoodInAMinute@gmail.com.

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