From Patch: It's Ok To Vote No
Melrose Taxpayers Alliance fighting for fiscal responsibility
By Melrose Taxpayers Alliance, Patch Poster | Jan 16, 2019 7:34 pm ET
The "Welcome to Melrose" sign beckons to residents and visitors, and we should be proud to live in such a great community. The new Melrose magnet seen on cars, with a heart integrated into an arrow also symbolizes a cohesive community – "One Community Open to All." Please remember that its okay to disagree with your neighbor about the proposed proposition 2.5% tax override! This is an important vote and your vote matters! A "yes" vote will remove the cap, allowing an 11.2% increase for the next tax year – an increase that will remain forever. A "no" vote protects you, the homeowner, and ensures that taxes CANNOT increase by more than 2.5% each year. If you are thinking of a "no" vote, you are not alone! There are many residents who are worried about their future if the "yes" votes win.
The Melrose Taxpayers' Alliance is also worried about this Melrose override, and the ability of both new and longtime residents to continue to live here if the 2.5% property tax increase cap is removed. This 2.5% increase limit has served Melrose well for 38 years, since it was voted into law back on November 4, 1980. For the past 38 years, our tax increases have been kept in check, and the current, reasonable, tax levels may have actually attracted many new homeowners to Melrose. In addition to providing some peace of mind to taxpayers, in terms of tax increases, the 2.5% cap requires that city officials make good decisions each year about spending, and operate within their budget limits. Bottom line is Proposition 2.5% CAPS the taxes AND the spending. Do we REALLY want to remove this cap?
You can learn more in the coming weeks. The Melrose Taxpayers' Alliance will be educating you with accurate, factual information to help you make the right choice in the April 2nd election. This is an important vote, so be sure and make your decision based on facts, not fiction! Visit Our new Melrose Taxpayers' Alliance website: www.melrosetaxpayers.com and follow us on Facebook to learn more https://www.facebook.com/melrosetaxpayers/
We will be working hard to reach out to all of our neighbors. If you have questions or would like to get more involved, please email us at MelroseTaxpayers@gmail.com.
Response from someone from one Melrose.
One of you no voters should go post the original "no" article to MCG - looks like no one has yet.
https://patch.com/massachusetts/melrose/neighbors-response-its-ok-vote-no?fbclid=IwAR3y-6L39NCe91K4o1jIb2NyJR3M0nA_xjZpsfXQ8AI9xrqaWq4-q4jrRFQ
Looking for facts without Discrimation or intimidation check out tax payers alliance!!
It’s not just the 554 we are paying it’s the 2.5 and the other tax increase which is over 720 in one year.. I can’t afford that and I have two kids
We need to start looking at the whole picture. We cover 84% of insurance much higher than the avaregabe I the area.. we have a million dollar increase to salaries while lowering the amount of time a teacher had to work.. last time I checked if you enter a negotiation you give to get instead we give and give.. you want parent involvement but say I it can’t haplen because the teachers are not responsible for a certain amount of after school time yet you put a million dollars into their salaries? Look at the agreement.. the kids are rushed through a tweety minute lunch because teachers do lot have to stay an extra fifteen minutes after school.. we give them one million dollars.. lower their hits and commitments and what? Taymore are you serious? Rapid fire parent teacher conferences at the teachers convience not the tax payers who pay for their salary.. it’s apallaing we give them all these increases but we demand noting I return, we actually demand less..
5 no votes from my home. No no no no no.
Much of the talk in Melrose of late has centered on the upcoming tax override vote, with each side of the debate making their presence known and stating their respective cases to all who will listen.
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 April 2 2019.
Apparently the message board is doing the job it's supposed to be doing. That's the freedom of speech.
Seeing yet another feeble attempt to get an override with sparse details, fear mongering, fake dire consequences, etc. there will be 2 NO votes from our household. The current Mayor is incompetent at best, and the school super should not have her contract renewed.
There is not a shred of reason ("inquiry-based," if you want to use the fad terms of the current administration) to believe the officials shilling for this override. In all the noise surrounding this latest attempt to scam the voters, it should be remembered that this is the same bunch who have been found in violation of numerous federal and state laws repeatedly. Whether it was the creation and fostering of a racially hostile environment or the chronic contempt of sunshine laws (open meeting and public records) or the chronic contempt of special education laws and regulations, this bunch of officials (elected and hired) has flaunted them, over and over again.
Sure, the state and federal education laws and funding formulas need to be revised, and sure there are numerous problems in how those things are adjudicated.
But one need only the most cursory understanding of Melrose's contempt of so many laws and regulations to grasp the general misrepresentations/scams being put forward now by the Yes/One campaign and officials. Look at the city's special education expenditures and you will find an artifically expanded "budget" (can't really call it that, except that it has been normalized by gullible Melrose voters for a long time); that line item is artificially bloated as a hiding place for legitimate unforeseen expenditures. It is also artificially bloated for a lot of nefarious purposes--like administrative raises that are typically approved in summer months during meetings scheduled at weird, inconvenient times to ensure the least amount of transparency and then cynically referenced as a "pot" from which the funds are drawn. Really can't make up this stuff! If you dig around (albeit purposely made difficult) the last 15 years of such things, you will find this exact language used.
You will also find an obscene amount spent annually for SPED Legal costs. Why, you might ask? Well, simple answer is that if the district were to have been obeying the laws and providing its students with required services and in timely fashion (not years later after a court forces the district to comply), there would be many fewer legal challenges by parents who've had to hire attorneys and advocates for their children. Instead, there is a neat little scam here whereby the attorneys routinely provide bad legal advice, which is then struck down up the chain of accountability and then requiring the district to provide hugely expensive special education services, often out-of-district at the most costly institutions. The "tuition" charges found in the district "budgets" include the bloated fees of the special education attorneys who caused the expense to be necessary in the first place.
The same kind of thing occurs for all sorts of other Melrose issues. The incompetent and corrupt local attorneys (political appointees and hired hacks, of course) provide terrible legal advice routinely, which the officials nod and swoon over. When some determined sort challenges these incompetent legal opinions, more costs are accrued in responding to the challenges, which the officials all treat as if they are being abused by the challenger, as they continue to swoon at every utterance of the city solicitor or other hired hacks. When eventually it is found that the city indeed violated some law, regulation, statute, more costs are accrued "implementing" the remediations and penalties (though those are few and far between), while officials engage in lots of hand-wringing and then self-congratulating over their self-proclaimed brilliant management of the issues (which they caused in the first place!). The legal hacks win again, because they get to charge more fees for "overseeing" the fixes for the incompetent and corrupt opinions they provided. Neat little scam that has been playing itself out over and over again, for literally millions of Melrose taxpayer dollars the last decade and a half.
@Individual 1, I would be concerned with getting banned from the MCG if I posted it. The group seems to be staunchly pro-override even it it pretends different. I know it's a private group blah blah blah but their public stance is not to admit to bias.
I don't want to be banned because the group is a good source of community information when the subject isn't the override or the speed limit.
I don't want to be banned because the group is a good source of community information when the subject isn't the override or the speed limit.
Your call. If none of you step up and try to post your side, though, it won't ever get posted anywhere meaningful.
I don\'t want to be banned because the group is a good source of community information when the subject isn\'t the override or the speed limit.
Your call. If none of you step up and try to post your side, though, it won't ever get posted anywhere meaningful.
The MCG is a great resource for the City. The decision to stop commentary regarding the Override discussions will not stop the exchange of information and opinions. The MCG ban has significantly increased the numbers coming to Read and Post on Melrose Messages. Meaningful Reading!
@ Individual 1, I appreciate that but I have watched people get banned over there for a few years now. They are usually the dissenting opinion. Or the opinion contrary to the mods pet issues even if the dissenter is polite and has a valid argument.
For example, the person who posted that Melrose Messages was back up was banned immediately. Comments got closed on the Override after someone simply asked if there was a NO group.
The MCG does not follow their own rules.
As much as the override debate rages on, most people have their minds made up so I'm not sure if it matters. On this board most are against and on MCG most are for. Of course it would be helpful to educate the undecided ....
Melrose takes awhile to wake up and hopefully not to long this time.
It is what it is.
I would find it hard to believe that anyone on a fixed income has given an iota of consideration to voting yes.
And for those who think the possibility of "us" having to leave if the override passes is simply bologna, think again!
The reason you don't see many administration supporters posting here is because every time they do try to pass on the administration's propaganda, they are totally and thoroughly debunked with facts they can't dispute.
The administration is scared to death of this site, both now, and in it's prior incarnation. Why else do you think Dolan banned access to it, a practice that continues to this day?
This is the only place where voters can get even a portion of the truth. They certainly can't get it from city officials, who continue to mislead, obfuscate, and outright lie about all things fiscal. Melrose is a house of cards. The sooner that house of cards collapses, the sooner we can get a mulligan and fix the mess we've allowed to happen.
How do we ever move the city forward?
Seeing yet another feeble attempt to get an override with sparse details, fear mongering, fake dire consequences, etc. there will be 4 NO votes from our household.
Folks! As someone who has kept up with school issues for the past 18 years - don't be crazy enough to buy into the phony override request!
The whining from the City in the past, but, oh, that's right, there's the few million of annual free cash.
Melrose has not passed an override in 25 years. What does that matter. That is proof alone that there is no need and never was.
June 2003 override was defeated by a 70-30 Margin. November 2015 override defeated 67%-33%. Based upon the current pulse of the city the override will probably be defeated by at least the same margin if not more.
It is what it is.
Apparently the message board is doing the job it's supposed to be doing. That's the freedom of speech.
My family can’t afford it and will vote no.
The reason you don't see many administration supporters posting here is because every time they do try to pass on the administration's propaganda, they are totally and thoroughly debunked with facts they can't dispute.
The administration is scared to death of this site, both now, and in it's prior incarnation. Why else do you think Dolan banned access to it, a practice that continues to this day?
This is the only place where voters can get even a portion of the truth. They certainly can't get it from city officials, who continue to mislead, obfuscate, and outright lie about all things fiscal. Melrose is a house of cards. The sooner that house of cards collapses, the sooner we can get a mulligan and fix the mess we've allowed to happen.
This is the only place where voters can get even a portion of the truth. They certainly can't get it from city officials, who continue to mislead, obfuscate, and outright lie about all things fiscal. Melrose is a house of cards. The sooner that house of cards collapses, the sooner we can get a mulligan and fix the mess we've allowed to happen.
You can learn more in the coming weeks. The Melrose Taxpayers' Alliance will be educating you with accurate, factual information to help you make the right choice in the April 2nd election. This is an important vote, so be sure and make your decision based on facts, not fiction! Visit Our new Melrose Taxpayers' Alliance website: www.melrosetaxpayers.com and follow us on Facebook to learn more https://www.facebook.com/melrosetaxpayers/
We will be working hard to reach out to all of our neighbors. If you have questions or would like to get more involved, please email us at MelroseTaxpayers@gmail.com.
We will be working hard to reach out to all of our neighbors. If you have questions or would like to get more involved, please email us at MelroseTaxpayers@gmail.com.
Read Stephen’s Auto Body and Towing’s Facebook Post:
“We were approached by someone who stated that the city of Melrose was trying to raise only commercial taxes for local businesses, but that person never specified it would be used towards the Melrose Schools, or that it would help our community.” Of course, once we realized what the ballot was for and read up about it, we immediately took down signs that were located at our building.”
Maybe people should vote based on the facts or lack there of and vote with a moral compass because so many people and families will lift behind if this over ride passes..
To paraphrase MM's article, there is no plan, and never has been a plan. The budget she voted on does not match any financial information being made available to the public. Fabulous. So, if funding to the schools is lower than it should be, I'd like to know why City Hall is refusing to invest in our schools? Why is City Hall refusing to show us the numbers? Why is City Hall's plan to only cut services that directly effect residents and not City Hall itself? Sounds like the problem is City Hall wants to take care of themselves and to continue to line their pockets while ripping off our schools.
Here is my plan. Show Melrose residents the details of City Hall's spending (staffers, salaries, benefits, expenses, etc.. and let us make cuts to a fat, dumb and happy city spending spree.
Water Sewer RATES
Much of the talk in Melrose of late has centered on the upcoming tax override vote, with each side of the debate making their presence known and stating their respective cases to all who will listen.
Faced with a Recession, what part of "We Can't afford It" do they not understand ?
Two weeks until this override.APRIL 2 2019 AND the water and sewer rates increases will be recommended on April 30, 2019. There is currently $1.46million in reserves in the water & sewer enterprise funds.
Much of the talk in Melrose of late has centered on the upcoming tax override vote, with each side of the debate making their presence known and stating their respective cases to all who will listen.
Faced with a Recession, what part of "We Can't afford It" do they not understand ?
Two weeks until this override.APRIL 2 2019 AND the water and sewer rates increases will be recommended on April 30, 2019. There is currently $1.46million in reserves in the water & sewer enterprise funds.
Much of the talk in Melrose of late has centered on the upcoming tax override vote, with each side of the debate making their presence known and stating their respective cases to all who will listen.
Faced with a Recession, what part of \"We Can\'t afford It\" do they not understand ?
Two weeks until this override.APRIL 2 2019 AND the water and sewer rates increases will be recommended on April 30, 2019. There is currently $1.46million in reserves in the water & sewer enterprise funds.
