Focus on Weston is Committed to Responsible Town Governance

Responsible town governance is built upon the notion of stewardship, and the implicit “social contract” that allows voters, and their families, to trust town government to address their highest needs and protect their economic and social well-being. For its part, the Weston Select Board should be expected to encourage openness, civil discourse, transparency, accountability, critical thinking, analytical rigor, proactive financial management and frequent balanced communication to all residents. Without that, the social contract between town government and its constituents is broken.

In Weston, total operating expenditures budgeted for FY2022 were $100.2 million, and have increased 39% over the prior ten years (3.5% per year, on average). Property Taxes have risen by exactly the same percentage. The five-year numbers are not materially different. Both have risen by almost twice the rate of inflation over the same period (1.8% per year). The factors that have driven Weston spending have been at work for the better part of a decade, and have been undermanaged.

What are the facts?

(1) “Why are you harping on property taxes?” – Focus on Weston is perceived by some to be singularly focused on lower taxes. That is a misconception. It is true that, by any measure, Weston property taxes are higher than those of other nearby towns with comparable socio-economic demographics.

Average Taxes 34% higher
Median Taxes 17% higher
Per Capita Taxes 26% higher

However, ever-higher property taxes are simply a symptom, an indicator of ever-higher spending.

(2) “But doesn’t it cost a lot to meet the needs of a town like Weston?” – The only way to be sure that the costs for schools and other services are what they need to be is to benchmark them relative to the same costs in other towns “like Weston”. The Select Board and the School Committee have not really addressed this issue. Focus on Weston has. Here is what we’ve learned about Weston’s school spending relative to comparable towns:

School costs per pupil (PPE) 26% higher
Healthcare benefit costs 72% higher
Total benefit costs 66% higher

Interestingly, there was an article written a year ago by one of our Select Board members who argued that lower “population density” in Weston was responsible for the fact that our property taxes are higher than those of comparable towns. We disagree. It is wrong to infer that differences in density (from one town to the next) have much to do with the size of the budget. For two towns with the same population, it’s simply untrue that the town with lower density requires more fire trucks, or a bigger police force, or a bigger school budget. Density is not a cost driver. It is also untrue that lower density has anything to do with the rate of increase in property taxes from one year to the next.

(3) “Yes, but salaries and benefits are subject to union contracts, right?” – That is true, and also important since employee costs represent over 80% of Weston’s total municipal and school budgets. However, over the past ten years, the number of people we employ (town government plus town services plus schools) has been relatively flat, in line with Weston’s stable population and number of households. However, total compensation per employee has risen 34% over the same period. Somehow other towns and their school districts (all of which have similar labor agreements) seem to be able to manage their union relationships and, therefore, their employee costs to a significantly lower level than Weston has.

(4) “Yes, but we have great schools!” – Focus on Weston may also be perceived to be “anti-schools”; that is categorically untrue. We not only believe that excellent schools are a priority, but also that having great schools benefits us all by supporting property values. It is true that Weston Public Schools continue to enjoy a strong academic reputation, and we congratulate the Superintendent and her entire team for that. However, most of our comparable towns can make exactly the same academic claims, according to state-wide data. The difference is that Weston spends 26% more per student in order to achieve those same academic results. This represents approximately $11 million of higher-than-average cost per year, and that represents much of the amount by which Weston property taxes are higher than property taxes in those same comparable towns.

(5) “So what if my property taxes are a little bit higher?” – If budget trends of the past five and ten years continue, the most likely tax on your home ten years from now will be $19,000 per million dollars of today’s home value. (We can each do the math for our own homes.) That would likely have a dampening effect on the rate of increase in home values. In fact, there is evidence -- close to home -- that spending growth rates that are higher than comparable towns and higher than inflation have a negative effect on property values. Over the past five years, the rate of appreciation in Weston home values has been one-fifth the rate of increase in the home values in those same comparable towns, and one-third of the rate of inflation.

(6) “Connect the dots for me” – It’s not just a matter of providing excellent schools and town services; it’s also about the levels of spending to deliver those services. And achieving prudent levels of spending is all about the performance of the Select Board and the School Committee. A Select Board or a School Committee that is unwilling or unable to effectively manage the “economics” of the services they provide is failing its stewardship responsibilities. In Weston, the social contract has been broken.

Therefore, what?

We, as voters, should expect better and insist on leadership with a stronger commitment to its social contract with the town’s residents.

This coming May you’ll have an opportunity to do three things. First, vote in Town Elections on May 7th. And we encourage you to vote for candidates who can convince you that they understand their stewardship responsibilities. Second, pay attention to the information you receive from Focus on Weston about the proposed 2023 budgets -- for the Schools and for Town Services -- that you will be asked to approve at the Town Meeting scheduled for May 9th. And third, be there to vote on May 9th.