There’s No Such Thing as Free Lunch
While Weston has a number of sources of funding other than Property Taxes, the quarterly real estate tax payments we make to “Town of Weston” cover around 90% of the Town’s operating budget and debt service. State Aid, such as State-funded reimbursement for certain aspects of Special Education, State contributions toward METCO bussing expenses, the State’s various transportation grants, plus many other small grants and reimbursements make up about half of the remainder. And most of the rest is funded by the Excise Taxes we all pay annually on our automobiles and other significant personal property.
None of that is free money, not even the State grants. State funding just happens to come to Weston (from taxpayers like us) via a more circuitous route. In the end, our Property Taxes plus Excise Taxes plus License Fees and the like (all of which are paid by residents) are nearly equal to the Budget that the voters are asked to approve. When you think about it, that almost has to be true because the Town Budget Appropriation represents the amount that is required from taxpayers, after all other much smaller sources of revenue are taken into account.
Our spending has been driven in large part by the Weston Public Schools, which represent around 60% of the Town budget, and where spending per pupil is now 30% higher than comparable towns. However, we should not forget the $80+ million estimated (by the Town’s engineering consultant) to be required to remedy deficiencies in the Town’s Water Management System over the next 20 years. (More on that below.) Even though those expenditures will be funded through increases in your water bill, that is functionally equivalent to a tax. It’s just based upon your water usage rather than your property value.
We have had Town leaders whose actions and decisions were enabled by their belief that Weston is a wealthy town, with a Triple-A debt rating, and “we can afford it”. In talking about budgets and spending proposals, it’s not uncommon to hear words like “Free Cash” and “Reserves”. Nevertheless, whatever resources the Town has (or is granted by voters) are not “free”. It really doesn’t matter whether we’re talking about Property Tax revenue, Community Preservation Act (CPA) Tax revenue, the water bills that fund of our water system, or State Aid for the schools. It can all be traced back to taxpayers, and if some of it winds up in a reserve or an account that collects unspent annual budgets, it still belongs to the taxpayers, and it’s certainly not “free”. To justify a $1.9 million expenditure for pickleball by saying that we already have the money in the CPA Reserve (“so it won’t cost the taxpayers anything”) is not a good argument. Nor is it good stewardship.
According to Merriam-Webster, stewardship is “the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care,” which literally embodies the concepts of “trust” and “care”. Trust connotes that residents need not wonder whether all the intricate details of town management are being addressed completely and diligently… that the Town’s actions or inactions are based upon respect for the will of the voters and respect for the resources that the taxpayers entrust to them. Care connotes that town management has been thoughtful about potential adverse consequences of their planning and decision-making… that their actions or inactions will not harm those who they represent, and that their decisions add appropriate value, especially in spending scarce resources.
A recent test of stewardship has been the Water Management System. This is arguably our biggest operational and financial issue, by historical standards. After three years of inattention – sitting on a shelf undiscussed – the Select Board has (somewhat stubbornly) positioned “storage tank replacement” as the key to success in fixing the Town’s water management deficiencies, and as being immediately urgent. At the same time, the Town’s own engineering consultants have said that those needs are important, but there is no imminent threat of catastrophic water tank failure. We don’t know of anyone who would argue with ensuring an abundant supply of water, or that sooner or later, the Town’s water storage tanks will need to be replaced.
What’s unclear is what the best sequencing is of all the steps (and all the individual expenditures) required to protect the Town’s water supply and minimize the risks to the system. And, precisely where new tanks should be located. And, if they need to be placed on Weston Conservation Land, what alternative replacement parcels should be considered for swapping. And, how long it will take to reach such an agreement with the State. And, what role effective water conservation measures might play in mitigating the size and expense of replacement tanks. And, how all the necessary costs and other expenditures should be financed without causing our water bills to more than double. And, and, and… the list goes on.
Interestingly, the case study supporting the proposed immediate replacement of two storage tanks is the fact that our system was unable to keep up with demand during the drought of 2016. Yet the problem in 2016 was not too little storage, it was too little water. The more urgent need at the time (and, arguably, today) might have been a second source of water from MWRA, rather than more storage capacity. But this is only one of many unanswered questions about the path forward. Communication with residents on this subject has involved too little disclosure about the breadth and depth of the problem, and instead has been designed to market the proposed solution (storage) without much debate or discussion, and without a holistic, consensus-driven solution. Questionable stewardship.
The Upcoming Annual Town Meeting
For many years, even before the Covid-19 pandemic, voter turnout for the Annual Town Meeting averaged less than 5% of all registered Weston voters. That relatively small percentage of town residents has authorized the Town Budgets and the major capital projects that have resulted in Weston Property Taxes being roughly a third higher than the average of comparable MetroWest towns.
The Budget for the coming fiscal year will be presented for approval at the Annual Town Meeting, scheduled this year for May 8th. We all understand that we’re operating in a higher inflation environment today than we have over the past ten years. Credit to the Town – especially the School Committee -- for better management of the Budget for FY2024 than we have seen in the past few years. Better stewardship.
However, a number of the Warrant Articles that will also be presented for a vote represent significant additional future taxes and need to be considered from that perspective. No Free Lunch. You will see more from Focus On Weston about those Warrant Articles during April. The water storage tanks are just one example.
Focus on Weston continues to believe that community excellence requires ongoing effort, with more active management by our elected officials and more active engagement by all citizens. Take advantage of the opportunity to vote on these and other important issues facing residents on May 8th. Your presence and your vote are important.