GREENFIELD — Average single-family homeowners may save about $18 on their tax bills next year — for the same town services they got this year – if the mayor’s proposed budget is approved by the Town Council.
Mayor William Martin on Friday announced his proposed spending plan for the budget year that begins July 1, which includes an increase of $231,439, less than 0.05 percent over the current budget. Estimating $350,000 in growth of taxable property, which he called “a safe, conservative number,” Martin said he expects the tax rate to decrease from $21.81 to $21.70 per $1,000 valuation.
“What’s more important than the impact on the taxes is the services and programs that the town runs and that people are accustomed to and expect,” he said. “We don’t see any change in programs or services. Over the past six years, all departments have been evolving to a point where they are able to master their mission — they have enough staff and resources to do so.”
Increases in the coming Fiscal 2017 budget come from four areas: enactment of town councilor stipends, increases for the school department and Franklin County Technical School, community programs and increased costs in assessments for mandatory pension payments.
The town schools would see a 2 percent increase, while spending on the Franklin County Technical School would see a 1 percent increase.
The School Committee requested nearly $18.2 million in its budget and received $17.9 million under the mayor’s proposal — up $404,000 from this year. Martin said the schools are the only department to which the Town Council can vote to increase funding, and can only approve or decrease funding for every other department.
The Tech School received $1.2 million in the proposal, up from $1.1 million last year.
In a letter to the Town Council, Martin stressed the importance of using planned debt as a way to strengthen Greenfield by repairing and replacing infrastructure. He said the town employs a strategy known as “smoothing” — replacing paid-off debt with new debt.
“As a community, if we were to purchase everything today that we needed to, we would have no budget; we would be bankrupt,” Martin wrote. “Debt is not only good for the long-term survival of communities but it is not destructive when planned.”
Upcoming projects include a senior/community center, public safety complex, parking garage, library and community energy and telecommunication infrastructure.
Martin said the parking garage and telecommunications will be paid for by revenue derived from their services as well as grants, and will not affect the tax rate. The senior/community center is tax-based and will be paid through the debt line item in the budget. However, Martin said Proposition 2½ prevents an increase above 2½ percent in total assessments in any budget year.
The public safety complex will be paid for by a combination of grants, partnerships and bonding, with 2018 as a target date, and the library was awarded a planning and design grant from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and is in a preliminary phase of design with a target date of 2020 or 2021.
Martin will present his proposed budget during the Town Council Committee Chairs meeting Monday.
You can reach Aviva Luttrell at: aluttrell@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 268
On Twitter: @AvivaLuttrell