Greenfield Mayor William Martin’s proposed budget reflects what he’s hearing on the street — limit tax hikes while maintaining services residents have come to expect.
On the surface it sounds good. His proposal calls for an decrease of roughly $18 in the tax bill for the average single-family homeowner. That’s based on a somewhat larger tax base and a $231,439 spending jump, less than 0.05 percent over the existing budget. This holding the line on spending is expected to allow a slight reduction in Greenfield’s tax rate, from $21.81 to $21.70 per $1,000 in assessed valuation.
More important, the mayor says that there will be no cuts to services or programs.
That’s possible, Martin said, because of a number of factors. One is the growth in taxable property value, which is conservatively estimated to bring $350,000 to the town. Second, some town departments have found efficiencies that led to savings, the mayor says. “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.”
That evolution hasn’t come without some pain as departments responded to challenges with new approaches or by doing with less over the years. It’s produced similar no-frills budgets the past couple of years. Any more trimming will have an impact on the programs, services and the people who use them.
We would then caution the Town Council about seeking ways to reduce the budget proposal. We can’t imagine there’s much room to find further savings when it comes to personnel, for example. Efficiencies, too, can only go so far.
Also allowing the mayor’s proposal to work is his decision to limit an increase in the Greenfield School Department’s budget. The School Committee proposed $18.2 million, while Martin settled on $17.9 million. Martin’s figure would still allow an increase of more than $400,000.
Will this all satisfy the Town Council and taxpayers? The council can, after all, increase school spending, but that would require cuts elsewhere in the budget. It could also reduce town departments, but that seems unlikely given the kind of overall small increase the mayor is seeking.
But if there’s not much resistance to this budget, the same can’t be said about the town’s capital project plans. It’s the spending part that has residents concerned over the impact on their bills. And it’s a concern the council shares — witness the “no” vote on spending for a new senior center.
Even with Martin arguing that “planned debt” will allow Greenfield to take care of a number of infrastructure projects — like a new senior center, library, public safety complex, parking garage — the council and public want more than promises that these projects won’t wring them dry.
Many of those officials and residents want a guarantee of no big bills in the future, something the mayor can’t offer, no matter how pleasing the proposed new budget seems to be.