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.
There can only be one reason for endlessly repeating the exact same post, and that's to step on prior posts and derail the discussion. And who, pray tell, may want to do that? Keep it up though, because all you're really doing is strengthening the argument against the override with your underhandedness.
Hiding the ball
It’s interesting the water and sewer rates increases will be recommended on April 30, 2019. Four weeks after the special election. Apparently the city doesn’t want residents to be thinking about the increase water& sewer rates as they head into the special election on April 2. Wonder why??This is both laughable and predictable by city hall. We already pay the third highest water & sewer rate of the 66 MWRA communities. Now they are hiding the rate increase until after the special election.How much more does Melrose want us to pay? There is currently $1.46million in reserves in the water & sewer enterprise funds.
https://www.manishaformelrose.com/single-post/2019/02/16/Water-Sewer-Rate-Committee-13119-Meeting-Recap
This is horrendous! I have been thinking this all along! This election is a rushed process before all this comes out. How much does this city and OneMelrose think we have ! Foolish for anyone to fall for this. How can we let the public know about this 🤬 NO NO NO
The override debate has dominated civic discussion in Melrose ever since the Board of Aldermen agreed to this tax override vote.April 2 2019 Tuesday .
It’s a “No” vote for me too!!!
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.
Would not consider the merits of additional taxes in any shape, manner or form until funds are appropriated for new Fire and Police Buildings.
Voting No for the poorly conceived Schools Only debacle.
Let's skip all the charts and fancy words for once. Let's get down to the basics. Information and evidence has been provided to the community and the board that spending more money per student does not mean better outcomes, examples Wakefield and Watertown. Comparing Melrose to Concord and Lexington for per pupil spending and anything and everything is silly. They have household incomes that far exceed Melrose. Also what is so wrong with just wanting to be Melrose. One Melrose wants to be Lexington or Concord,that's fine but we are not, WE ARE MELROSE. Let's compare apples and apples.
We lack a commercial tax base but yet we continue to produce condos which give back what? Tax money. You can look at it from whatever way you want but if you add more residents there is more residential taxes, more money.
Information has been provided about class sizes but let's say there is a problem despite numerous posts showing that Melrose is well within the sizes deemed fine by the state. If there is, why did we spend millions on PODS with promises that it would help our “size” issue for the next 5-10 years but within ONE YEAR we are back where we started. Lets throw it against a wall and let it stick mentality is not working? There is no plan. Dolan had said the Beebe would be to expensive to reopen now we will? WHAT IS THE COST? Where is the plan and projections for operating costs and staffing costs. You can’t just snap fingers and open it up.
A community investment? Last I knew a community meant more than one entity. We need a new police station, fire department, money for the library, roads, ect. NO PLAN? Or is there one and we will find out about the increase after April 2nd, let's be real the town is already showing its true colors with a proposed increase in water and sewage 28 DAYS LATER. Whats next?
Overpaid and underworked? Sorry but I just don’t see it. A guaranteed increase every year which is inline with the national average for yearly increases, actually it's more but 6% is so far out there. So a teacher left to Concord, WE ARE NEVER GOING TO BE CONCORD. We are a blue collar town. We gave the teachers a million dollars and then said you can work less. Is that a negotiation? NO. We have steps and lanes for the teachers with their negotiated increase, now put that amount over a regular work year of more than 182 days and POOF. It all makes sense. If you make 10,000 in half a year you will make 20,000 in a full year. Almost every other job is working 260 DAYS. A Melrose teacher making say 68,000 at 182 days...you can do the rest.
Can we look at the entire picture. It is not just yearly income. We pay 84% of insurance costs. The average in the area is about 72% We can get into fancy equations but I think the point is made. NOT UNDERPAID. NOR OVERWORKED. Say what you want but the truth is the truth and the math is the math.
The last override failed and Melrose has the MOST IMPROVED MCAS SCORES in the region. Of course the YES side says that does not judge the “health” of a school. It is an indicator. Is the MCAS not but forth as a measurement by the State or Federal government? so if its is not a way to measure then every stat from the state is false? So any and all data compiled is false? SO when Monica asked for more time to collected proper data she was the only one who was right? Our students did better and improved after the failed override, PLAIN AND SIMPLE.
WHOLE picture for investing. Fixed income households will be hit extremely hard. Senior citizens, people on disability and people who are scraping by in the once affordable Melroe. How many people will be forgotten or forced out by a YES vote? TO MANY.
All the Alderman are behind it except for the one person who asked for more time to gather proper data and information. Ask yourself WHY? Do we continue to follow the same people over and over again. Or do we search for new people with new and better ideas so we do not keep landing in the same position Poor representation for the HOMEOWNERS, mismanaged funds like the PODS, skewed data, using CONCORD instead of a more comparable towns, misleading information, PER PUPIL SPENDING MEANS BETTER RESULTS….WRONG! They can fall in line as usual but thank you Monica for asking the hard questions and demanding accountability for proper information.
YOU CAN SAY NO.
BE FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE.
DON’T FALL INTO ONE MELROSE TRAP..FOR THE FUTURE! FOR THE KIDS! FOR THE COMMUNITY ! because its NOT, do they plan to leave behind the POLICE, the FIRE?. They neglect so much and will leave behind so many.
IS A BLUE COLLAR TOWN STILL GOOD ENOUGH...YES!
VOTE NO!
I hope the leaders of the city are proud of the divisiveness this is causing. I love also that the Yes side uses the slogan One Melrose to make it look like they’re not the ones causing the divisiveness. Great political strategy.