Bye, bye Override. Melrose residents can't afford it.

From Patch today. --- Massachusetts residents have some of the the highest utility bills in the U.S., dishing out an average of $469 a month for gas, electricity and related costs, according to a new report from Move.org. All six New England states ranked in the Top 10 nationwide.

Move.org broke down each state's utility costs, including electricity, natural gas, internet, cable and water. For electricity, natural gas and internet costs, the publication took into account state costs. For cable and water, where no state-by-state information was available, Move.org relied on national averages.

According to the report, the Bay State ranked No. 8 nationally, with average monthly costs for:

Electricity: $185.05 (4th in the country)
Natural Gas: $79.66 (36th)
Internet (60 Mbps): $64.42 (16th)
Cable: $100 (national average): $100
Water: $40 (national average) $40 (yeah right not in Melrose! Guessing the average monthly water bill in Melrose is about $90 or more than double the national average).
Total Cost: $469.13
Maybe $500 + in Melrose

Below are the 10 most expensive state for utilities, according to the report:

Hawaii
Alaska
Rhode Island
Connecticut
New York
New Hampshire
South Carolina
Massachusetts
Vermont
Maine

See ya override and OneMelrose!

People are struggling to pay their bills. One Melrose supporters versus NO on the Override Voters are influenced by their income and personal finances. Income inequality is a factor in people’s view of the Override and their decision to support or reject it. Income Inequality exist in Melrose and has increased over the past few years. Everyone is worried about money. Final Holiday sales numbers were released this week. Big surprises and retail disappointments across the board. Tax refunds are questionable. And voters know that the upcoming Tax increase vote is only the beginning. One Melrose’s message is only about the schools. Even though other Melrose problems have been shelved, ignored, denied and squelched, they will surface again. How will they be paid for without more taxes? One Melrose, Illegitimate Gail and the go along to get along BOA won’t even talk about anything but the schools. Irresponsible behavior will have consequences. Voting No because we are worried about money and we have no idea of what is coming soon with additional taxes needed for other needs. This Override attempt has been poorly done and the timing couldn’t be worse! Voting NO!

Well done taking one piece of data and extrapolating to fit your narrative. (Hey You-know-who, I used that phrase correctly, right?)

Unfortunately, while utilities are high in Massachusetts versus the rest of the country, Massachusetts also has the highest average wages.

“But wait,” you say, “housing costs SO MUCH in Massachusetts, who cares about the wages?” Well, the Bureau of Economic Analysis normalizes wages for cost of living (which - AMAZINGLY - includes your cited SUPER HIGH utility prices)...and guess what? Massachusetts has the highest normalized wages in the nation. Source: Boston Globe, March 8, 2018 “Mass. housing costs are high, but so are average wages”

Or, how about this article which cites Massachusetts wages are 27% higher than the national average (albeit, 2015) and Housing is 24% more expensive than the national average, but Taxes are essentially on par with the national average? Source: Boston Magazine, February 5, 2017, “How Massachusetts’ Cost of Living Compares with the National Averages.”

Should I use this data to say “stop whining, you can afford it.” I won’t, because taking a single (or multiple) news articles with a couple data points to jam into a narrative on something as important this Override is dumb (again, did I use that right?). There are plenty of short snippets of data and out-of-context comparisons that anyone can cite to try and make a thread of a connection to your argument; but it doesn’t mean you should.

I might as well say that since La Qchara’s coffee prices are 10% less than the national average, that you should have saved enough on your annual coffee bill to easily fund your share of the tax increases.

I know you got excited when you read that Patch article and your wheels started turning...”ah ha, I’ve got them now!” Please, though, next time take a deep breath and think to yourself “should I get a different slant?”

Yes. Yes you should.

I had to read that twice, because honestly, I couldn't quite believe I was finding myself agreeing with you for once. I don't even consider things like utilities when contemplating the override. It's not a consideration that's Melrose specific, so it's not a factor. There are enough reasons that are Melrose specific to consider.

That's not the case with stuff like water and sewer. I'm not going to re-hash everything that's been said 1000 times already. Suffice it to say that the water and sewer situation is a money grab. It's effectively a tax override disguised as a fee. There is no earthly legitimate reason why my water/sewer bill should be 3.6 times what my kid's is in Stoneham for almost exactly the same usage.

You're also right that the proposed override is important. It's important that it be resoundingly defeated.

Don't bother debating the Anti-Melrose, Anti Override Melrose Messages Crowd. There are two certainties with the same half dozen people who post 90% of the negative comments on this site:

1) They don't care about facts or logic. All they know is that they will not vote for an override at any cost for any reason but just can't admit it...so they attempt to obfuscate anything and everything.

2) They have an axe to grind with some Melrose citizen(s) that have served as a volunteer, politician or employee and for whatever reason they hate them.

Just read the posts, MEF Mommies, Dolan this or Dolan that, Illegitimate Gail, Taymore and whole school committee must go, its an endless ramble of hate filled nonsense.

It's clear to any person, regardless of their IQ, that the City is headed for trouble without an override. These folks posting the hate aren't too stupid to realize it, just too ignorant.

I have some news for you bub. Melrose has been headed for trouble for over fifteen years, thanks to the gaggle of liars and nincompoops running things. Posters on this site have been trying to get people to realize that from day one, but now, since it can no longer be ignored, the same people who tried in vain to sound a warning are being vilified by posters like you for saying so. You were content to buy - or perpetrate, whichever - the lies for this long, and now that it's clear you were dead wrong, you need someone to blame, so you resort to the old tried and true haters nonsense. You fool no one. Go away.

"Don't bother" has many handles on this website, including the ever-charming "Clown Patrol." The refrain is predictable, with the "haters" mantra of Dolan, MGrover, et al. as the obnoxious go-to tag that's laughably supposed to mock, intimidate and halt criticism of the administration. It's easy to spot the linguistic etymology. This is one very arrogant and nasty simpleton who isn't nearly as clever as self-imagined.

Voting NO....APRIL override cost too much... Interim Mayor....Rushed.....Way too much money 🤷🏻‍♀️

Yes! Yes! YES!!!!!!!

Agree 100% with you...a handful of really angry people on this site that can’t seem to understand that the prior and current administration has pretty strong support among those in Melrose. They love to rip on Rob Dolan, but can’t seem reconcile the fact that he was Mayor for approximately 16 years and his last election he won with 71% of the vote.

“But no one ran against him...he was unopposed!” Yeah, people don’t run when they don’t think they can win. Ask their favorite flavor-of-the-week Monica.

“FORENSIC AUDIT!” they scream.

“CEMETERY SCANDAL!” they cry.

“DOLAN’S CRONIES!” they ascribe to anyone who supports the Override or anything being proposed by the current administration.

This site is like a little echo chamber, where the same handful of people post over and over as different users repeating the same tired lines. They don’t organize and run, because it would become apparent how little support they have. Also, it takes a little bit of the wind out of their sails when they can’t defame and insult people anonymously.

That being said, I will still get in the trenches and battle...this Override is too important to the majority of the citizens in the City.

I just keep telling them to “get a different slant”....get’s ‘em every time.

NO

NO

Just curious. Why do I always see city trucks marked as "Water & Sewer" involved in non-water/Sewer related work such as snow plowing and trimming city trees? And why is half the city solicitor's salary paid from the W/S budget?

"And why is half the city solicitor's salary paid from the W/S budget?"

How would one know which portion of the budget pays for anything? It's all a big secret.

In one of the many lies put forward by this administration (which is basically RD2) the claim is made that half of the city solicitor's job involves water and sewer issues. If in fact that were to be true, there would be something very wrong in how this area is managed (mismanaged). Similarly the claim was made that a substantial portion of Brigid's job (mayor's "right hand") involves W&S, which is just another lie in order to be able to shift City Hall expenses onto the W&S line items, bilk the taxpayers even more, and in effect do end-runs around Prop 2.5. The way W&S expenses are charged to the Enterprise funds are also not legit.

If a reputable forensic audit were to be performed (not by some hack pal of the administration, as has been the case so far with the mini-pretend-"audits"), many of these fraudulent charging mechanisms would be exposed and forced to be changed.

Not everybody makes those high wages @bizarre. This is one of the things that is willfully ignored. Not everyone in Melrose makes a lot of money. The attempt to steam roll with guilt over legitimate concerns is deplorable. Some people cannot afford a tax increase.

If the nepotism were cut back in city hall and the do nothing positions given to friends and family were eliminated, the city would have more money.

I'll say it again. There are many people living in Melrose who cannot afford your tax increase. I know you don't care about them as you pursue your extremely selfish agenda but that's the reality.

Add another bumper sticker to the many Melrose vehicles have! OneMelrose vote yes.....Previous YES Melrose....One Community open to all Melrose and 02176 sticker Lol. I don’t think I have seen another city with this many.

The only bumper sticker I've ever seen that meant anything to me was "Lick Dick in '72". I'm waiting for "Dump Trump in '20".