It took a long Saturday and one additional evening session, but the Town Meeting managed to deal with all 57 Articles before it. What follows is a brief summary of some of the key issues that were decided.
One of the most important tasks for the Annual Town Meeting is the approval of the operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year. This is essentially the amount of money that the Town estimates that it will need to keep the lights on for the year ending June 30, 2011 and is a key variable when it comes time to set the tax rate. The final approved amount came in at $149.6 million, and by all measures, it was a fairly conservative tally. There was not a lot of fat in this number. And while this would ordinarily give rise to some optimism for next year's property tax bills, the introductory remarks delivered by state and local officials indicated some potential rain on that parade
In case there is any confusion, the recession is still with us and Town officials put up slides showing a persistent decline in income from fees as well as income generated by Excise tax receipts, two income items that help to offset property taxes. The really bad news came from State Senate President Theresa Murray who noted the continued decline in the state's revenue stream. The rainy day fund seems to be down to the bottom of the barrel and the federal stimulus money that closed many a budget gap, has come and gone. And this was before the Governor started talking about a major shortfall for the state's health care program. The bottom line, for those willing to see it, is that state aid to cities and towns is going to be hard to come by in fiscal 2011. And unless there is a miraculous economic boom, fiscal 2012 could be tougher still.
There has been a great deal of debate and at least one law suit (between the Plymouth Planning Board and the Plymouth Zoning Board of Appeals) over whether a Honda dealership might be built on the now vacant lot on long Pond Road near the southbound off ramp from Exit 5. It is good to finally have this dispute settled. As it finally played out, the Dealership will be allowed, but under a Special Building Permit, which will allow the Town to get intimately involved in the projects design. While some residents are afraid that this might be the start of an "Auto Mile" on Long Pond Road, most others welcome the addition to Plymouth's economic base, especially those planning on buying a Honda.
Graffiti is an eyesore, especially in Plymouth's historic center. While the Town has been proactive in its efforts to eradicate this blight, it has been stymied by a few absentee landlords who ignore repeated requests to clean up their properties. The new anti-graffiti law adopted by Town Meeting will provide the Town with the power to effect the needed clean ups on these properties.
You may, or may not know what happens to our trash, aka solid waste, after it has been deposited in the Town's transfer station. Turns out, that it is trucked to a facility run by SEMASS of Wareham where it is used as fuel to generate electricity. Plymouth currently pays SEMASS $22.53 a ton for accepting our trash under a contract that continues until January 1, 2015. Since the current "market rate" being charged by SEMASS to others is substantially higher than this amount, it is generally agreed that the tipping rate paid by Plymouth after 2015 will see a big increase. In order to smooth out that increase, it was proposed that a new contract be signed that would step up the rate each year, but provide for an ongoing rate that would be below the expected market rates. Got it? Well, I hope you do because then there are a number of questions as to the total tonnage that Plymouth will provide annually, the availability, or lack thereof, of viable alternatives to the SEMASS plant and a whole host of possibilities that might be triggered by technical changes, and/or, regulatory changes. Looking out to the future is always tricky. In this case, there are way too many variables which is essentially why the Town Meeting turned down the proposal. The Solid waste Committee and other Town officials worked hard on this contract, and it may well turn out to be a good deal for the Town. The Town Meeting was willing to take that risk and let the existing contract stay in place, at least for a while.
In case you missed it, look at the property tax bill that you received last week. The item marker CPA, that equals 1.5% of the Real Estate Tax amount is not to pay for public accounting services. This is a surcharge payable under the Community Preservation Act, which raises funds (i.e. additional taxes) with which the Town buys opens land, historical properties and helps fund low and moderate income housing. The proponents of the CPA tax were vocal in their defense against a pair of TM Articles that would have reduced or eliminated the tax. Supporters noted that these funds, which are matched by the state and often used to garner grant money, have produced almost three times the amount of the original tax. These funds have been used to buy and retire some 840 acres of open land under the premise that developed housing tends to attract families which leads to an increased need for schools and other Town services. Other land has been purchased to protect environmentally-sensitive tracts. CPA funds contributed to the Town's purchase
of the 1820 Courthouse and have been used in the development of affordable housing.
while these efforts have been defended as a win-win no-brainer for the taxpayers, there are some questions to be asked. The state has reduced its matching percentage, which is not expected to increase any time soon. Moreover, more light needs to be shed on the exact nature of some of the CPA funded acquisitions and just what the costs are to the Town. In the meantime, both articles were handily defeated so the CPA tax continues.
Of interest to many Precinct 5 residents was the Article put forth by Pinehills LLC seeking changes to the zoning rules for Pinehills. Suffice it to say, the Article that was approved by TM was the product of endless negotiation with Town Officials, resulting in a slight increase in building heights within the commercial district, some minor changes in the setback requirements from Beaver Dam Road and an increase in the number of drive-through windows from one to two for non-financial tenants.
The issue regarding the parcel of land located on the east side of Great Island Pond was withdrawn. During the past several months, John Judge has been ubiquitous in his campaign to get these changes made. While rumors abound as to what tenants might be in the wings, Judge has stated that there are none that are teed up and ready to go and that these changes are merely a part of long-term planning.
One additional note concerns a recasting of the precincts within Plymouth. According to Town Clerk, Larry Pizer, a new set of precincts will be established subsequent to the 2011 Town election but prior to the 2012 Town elections. It is expected that two additional precincts will be added bringing the total to 16 and that most, if not all of the existing precinct boundaries will probably be re-drawn. It is expected that all 9 Town Meeting seats in each new precinct will be up for election.
While there are Critics of the Town Meeting System of government, we think that the efforts of all concerned deserve a well-done for its attention to performing the Town's business in a very open and transparent process.
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