Wile E Coyote, Super Genius, neglects to mention that the ignorant, benighted masses of Melrose made JD LaRock the top votegetter in the 2009 school committee election. He served for a year and a half, then resigned to take a job in Europe. I'd argue his leaving was a greater factor in losing the alderman race than people not understanding his resume. Your mileage may vary.
It's funny that you bring up that this is a sleepy little suburb and mention in the same sentence Soviet Russia.... almost as if you are defending against the obvious parallels...hmmmm... And Infowars? Really? The irony here is that I largely vote as a Democrat, but I believe there is no place for partisan politics in local city or town elections; I simply vote in the best interests of the city. It is odd but not surprising that you have no respect for transparency, free speech and public records laws and fail to realize that this is a major problem here in Melrose. What happened to "an educated and informed voter? is this just a slogan?
In Melrose, it's an oxymoron.
Educated and informed voter.We do have.Just to get even basic information in order to make informed decisions on important votes. The voters will do.
Of course I know what alleged means. In the criminal justice world, it's the word you have to use prior to a conviction to avoid prejudicing the case.
A conspiracy is "an actual covert plot planned and/or carried out by two or more persons". My question remains. Who were the others involved?
I don't think Dolan had a clue about it. I didn't much care for him, but he's way too smart to get involved in something so stupid and almost certain to be discovered at some point.
Of course it's odd. It's hard for a rational person to understand why anyone would do something so stupid, but in case you hadn't noticed, the vast majority of crooks aren't really all that bright.
Unbelievable. I give up. It always amazes me that some people will turn a blind eye to anything until it directly affects them.
VOTE NO! Follow the facts.. the truth.
You can learned a lot of value from this either side of any issue on this site, either before it closed down or after it started up again. October 2018.There are no existing checks and balances for are school;s.Just look at the things that should not have came to light.
There are plenty of facts to show why not. Yes seems to be a bit more of an aggressive approach with hostile rhetoric and the same speech and information as well as slogans over and over again just like every other time.
VOTE NO!
TIME TO RAISE THE BAR IN MELROSE BACK TO A SYSTEM THAT REPRESENTS ALL OF THE
CITIZENS.
Get your facts and information and tell the community. I vote no becuase when you add the numbers and do the research it does not even come close to adding up. The Mayor has no answers. Taymore talk in circles about a plan for the future. One sentence is one thing the next is the opposite of what was said. Mismanagement! VOTE NO! SPREAD THE WORD! The Yes group spent 25,000 last time. Impressive. Give that money to the Police they need it!
So fake it will go down in history.
In Fiscal Year 2016, Melrose has already hit homeowners with a 6% increase in water and sewer rates and the legally allowable maximum tax increase of 2½%.
Ugh. Happy New Year.
My tax bill is 600 more than last year and this is BEFORE what an Override would cost. No, No No, can’t afford it and will vote NO on April 2nd. By the way, I am a Federal worker who is now furloughed because of a mentally ill president and politicians who have no guts. Trust Melrose politicians? No!
The Mismanagement lack of Transparency and Coverups. No on any Override.
And remember, it's 5.8 million a year - FOREVER! I often wonder how they could have the stones to even propose such a thing. These people are so out of touch with reality it's frightening. Also voting no - emphatically.
I would like to remember that, but I have NO IDEA what you mean.
REAR OUR LIPS...NO NEW TAXES.
Yes, $600 a quarter is nuts. That was kinda the point.
The bottom line is that I'm voting no until someone demonstrates beyond a reasonable doubt to me that the money we are spending is being spent wisely. I'm not hopeful, given the history, that that's imminent. An example I neglected before is the enormous amount being wasted on out-of-district placements, and legal fees. The only way I have to express my displeasure is with my vote, and that's what I'm going to do.
"The truth of the matter is that property taxes went down in Melrose this year. It is just a fact. I know "facts" are up for debate in this current political climate, but I am hoping there are some sane souls on this board who can understand the actual numbers on their tax bill."
I don't understand how the blanket statement above could be remotely true. The city got their 2.5% increase. Any shift between res&comm was nominal. It is possible that if your assessment went up $10k while the average went up say $30k then your taxes went down, but a general statement that taxes went down seems wrong.
The housing market is crashing and rates are going up, so I don't think it will pass. The houses are coming down so that's why people wanted to sell at this time. The override should be for the police and fire. The schools will stay the same as they have for the passed forty years that I know.
First step is to get rid of Taymore, and replace her with a real educator, like the one that the SC ignored the last time. She's the leader of a mean girl group, not an educator. Whatever success the schools have had is in spite of her, not because of her.
Those are tax rates. I thought you were well versed in the basics of prop 2 1/2? The rates go down to offset the increased assessed values, but the end result is still a 2.5% increase in the levy on existing stock.
The OP with whom you were arguing was talking about the tax rate. Don’t believe me? See the direct quote below. I was providing the numbers to back up what he/she was saying. YOU chose to argue based on a different measure. Of course the levy went up 2.5%, as it does and should every year given basic inflation, nevermind the measurable population growth that results in the need for more municipal services.
“I can tell you that my property was assessed at $15,000 more than last year and my tax bill went DOWN $10/quarterly, and the assessed value of my property is roughly $20,000 lower than what I think it would sell for on a bad day. The truth of the matter is that property taxes went down in Melrose this year.”
PS- your earlier assertion (or that of whichever poster is agreeing with you) that trash service is unnecessary is ludicrous.
It doesn't really matter what the tax rate is as a stand alone figure. It has to be coupled with the assessed value and Prop 2 1/2 restraints. It also doesn't matter what you think a property might sell for. That's apples and oranges.
In any given year, there will always be some outliers. Some property owners will see a reduction in the actual tax dollar amount. Most, like me, will not. For example, my assessed value did go up, and with the reduction in the rate the actual tax increase was a less than it would have been had the rate not been reduced, but it had to be reduced to fall within the Prop 2 1/2 ceiling. My actual tax bill did go up, by just about 2.75%, in real dollars. The real measure of whether taxes went up or down is the actual amount collected citywide, and by that measure taxes did go up. If the city collected more in one year than it did the prior year, taxes went up. His individual bill was less than a 2.5%. I believe him when he says his bill total fell. That's good for him, and will almost always happen in a few cases. Mine was not. It increased by slightly less than $600. As long as the total amount citywide did not exceed 2.5%, the law has been complied with.
And yes, the assertion that trash pick up is unnecessary in Melrose is ludicrous. We, unlike Winchester for example, don't have a drop-off facility like they do.
The OP was not simply talking about the tax rate as evidenced by the quote you provided:
"The truth of the matter is property taxes went down in Melrose this year"
If they were talking specifically about rates they would have said rates. My message was simply to correct that. I may have assumed that by showing the decreasing rates you were supporting their argument that taxes were going down on the whole.
I did not post about trash removal btw.
What he should have said was that HIS taxes went down. To say that taxes went down is silly on it's face. They didn't. Either he misspoke, or made the erroneous assumption that because his did, everyone's did.
if it’s not for the police or fire, I’m a NO. Schools have had their chance and have blown it. They keep putting incompetent people at the helm who never get the job done correctly. And forget me, this is the opinion of the majority of melrosians. We are a middle class community folks, nothing more, nothing less. NO if it’s for the schools, YES if it’s for police and fire.
My taxes went up from the preliminary assessment so without the override I am paying more. If the override passes, I will be paying even more which scares me because the gas rates doubled in the last bill and I have gas heat.
The override is that basic to me. I pay over $6K in taxes now on a modest older home and that's more than enough. Like everyone else I have utilities, car insurance, home owners insurance, and other costs that even with frugality, I can only reduce so much but are not optional expenses.
I don't want to pay more so I am voting no.
You know I was just saying that you should get taxed closer to what your fair market value of your house is. You are being daft purposefully. They reassess annually. If your house value goes up in that time then you are saving money. If it goes down over that year, you get taxed a bit extra.
How have the last 10 years gone for you in that regard? I'm thinking your assessed value was a good deal under what you would have put it on the market for for almost every single one of those years. Even with the current market slow down, my assessment is roughly 20k lower than what I'd list it for.
What I am saying is the assessed values are fair. It is just plain dumb to think they wouldn't change the assessed values to reflect market conditions. If the market truly slows a lot, you will see the assessed values drop next year. God forbid, 1 year out of 10, you pay taxes on slightly more than your home is worth. When the other 9, you were paying on less. I don't even think that's the case. I'd be willing to bet your current assessed value is less than you would put it on the market for right now. Your are not answering that (obviously) and being quite phony about it.
So you are getting a discount. That's nice. I see I are very thankful for it. And its such a big discount that it will take many multiple years of tax increases for your assessed value to reach your actual value. So, like a true late-stage capitalist, you are happy to rail against an override that would allow your taxes to come in line with the actual value of your house so that others can foot the tax on the closer to accurate assesments of their houses. Typical selfish thinking of this board. Also, if daft and phony are insults to you, you really shouldn't be calling people silly or, worse, chicken$hit. You sensative little soul.
The poster Come On said earlier that I was lucky my taxes went down 40 per year. I'm not lucky. The opposite actually. It means iIam one of the ones whose house is assessed close to accurately and am being taxed at the proper amount. I am subsidizing the people on this board who complain about their high taxes but aren't even taxed on close to their assessed value due to Prop 2 1/2 limitations. That's not to say I mind what I pay and am not willing to pay more. But it is time that people start paying on what they own value-wise. 2.5 percent each year isn't getting us there.
A discount? What on earth are you talking about? He's paying exactly what he's supposed to be paying.
As for an override...I have no idea what the total tax levy receipts are right now, but let's say it's $200 million. A %5.8 override would be a 2.9% increase, over and above any Prop 2.5 increase. That means that next year's taxes would increase by 5.4%.
If we were paying based on this year's market value, the tax rate would have to decrease to comply with Prop 2.5. Your tax bill probably wouldn't change at all.
Exactly what part of this simple fact do you not understand? Unbelievable.