So get out and make your vote matter. April 2 2019. 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.Override Overboard On April 2 2019.


https://www.manishaformelrose.com/single-post/2019/02/16/Water-Sewer-Rate-Committee-13119-Meeting-Recap

Medeiros: Taxpayers need unobstructed view

from the M Free Press:

Opinion: Medeiros: Taxpayers need unobstructed view
Posted at 12:40 PM Updated at 12:41 PM

Submitted by Alderman Monica Medeiros.

Last November, I, as an Alderman, voted against moving the Mayor’s proposed $5.18 million tax override question forward. I felt the city had not been thorough enough in evaluating our financial picture, nor in considering the effects of adding these millions of dollars of new spending.

In preparing for this vote, I learned that our city had much bigger problems than I had suspected. Namely that the executives in our city government have failed to do any long term evaluation of our financial outlook.

I felt it critical to have a full understanding of the financial assumptions the city was making before I could vote to pass such a hefty burden on to seniors and families.

After asking Mayor Infurna for copies of any long range budget forecasts that had been prepared and used by the City of Melrose over the last five years, I was forced to appeal to the Secretary of State’s office for this information only to learn that no such documents exist.

The Mayor’s office directed me to a tool on our city website, “Visual Budget.” In the Aldermen meeting, I asked our CFO & Auditor Patrick Dello Russo if this was the tool he was using to make our predictions in terms of revenues and expenditures. His reply? “We don’t make predictions. This is not a magic show.”

Try as I might, I could not seem to match the “Visual Budget” figures to the actual budgets I had voted on. Days later, Kerriann Golden, our Assistant Auditor confirmed, “The last actual figures reflected are Fiscal 2016,” -- two full fiscal years behind.

The outdated “Visual Budget” data was not only a waste of thousands of taxpayer dollars spent on this service, but also so inaccurate that it was actually misleading to the public. Most importantly, it could not have been being used as an accurate tool for evaluating our city’s financial outlook by anyone including our city executives.

Melrose is at a crossroads. Real estate prices have skyrocketed to an all-time high. Many new families have chosen Melrose for its great schools, beautiful downtown and its relative affordability.

Conversely, many of our families, seniors and one-income households are struggling. Recently, a Melrose Housing Authority Commissioner testified at our meeting that the waitlist for housing of Melrose families, seniors, Veterans and the handicap is in the thousands.

Sadly, I hear from residents who are told if they can’t afford this increase, they should move along. But where will they go? After paying their taxes for years, volunteering in our community, donating to all kinds of causes, including our schools, they are told they haven’t paid their “fair share” and should move along. I can think of little that is so cruel.

Even for those of us who are working, many of us are only one lockout or government shutdown away from being in financial peril.

But regardless of income, every taxpayer deserves good fiscal management.

As an Alderman-at-Large, my job is to consider the big picture ramifications of our decisions, especially when it comes to spending and taxation. When it comes to the big picture, the taxpayers deserve an unobstructed view.

If our leaders are not looking forward to ensure we can sustain the costs associated with the hiring of nearly 30 new positions and school department raises (not teachers only) of nearly $2 million included in this proposal, every one of these positions is at risk.

Before final decisions are made, the voters also need to know that large expenditures are waiting in the wings. What’s not included in this override, may be most significant.

This proposed tax increase includes no money for any other city department other than the schools. Although $250,000 is included in the override for the loss of rent from Beebe School, no plan exists to bring this building back online and fund the staff, renovation nor utility costs. As we make room for some Melrose students, we will disrupt the lives of the 30 or so Melrose special needs children who currently attend the SEEM Collaborative who will be uprooted and bussed to a new school outside our city limits.

Plans are in the works for the rebuilding or repair of the police and fire stations, and renovations of the library. Whether or not this question passes, each of these is expected to be presented to the voters in the form of an increase above the Prop 2 ½ limit.

Like our taxpayers, our leaders need a panoramic view before they make decisions that affect individuals so significantly. Financial forecasting in budgeting has been considered a best practice for more than a decade. Melrose can do better. Before any tax increase is considered, our taxpayers deserve an objective analysis of our financial picture and an independent audit of our books.

Demand accountability. Vote 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

Good for the teacher with the masters degree. You don't need a masters degree to teach in MA. It's an employee at will commonwealth. If you don't like it, simply leave. Someone else will gladly take that position.

She is complaining about 10 months pay but don’t forget Xmas break, February vacation, April vacation , half days before vacation so in reality it is like 9 months

The teacher in question has been through many teacher contract negotiations (teachers union). The last contract negotiated by the city, Mayor Dolan, was voted on and passed with an overwhelming majority. Doesn't surprise me that teachers are for the override. They quite possibly are going to try and negotiate a substantial raise during the next contract negotiations if the override is approved.

The teachers put their own money in to fund their pensions. It is not a freebie

Not exactly. Their contributions fund the annuity portion, and the investment gains from those contributions are what funds part of the pension portion. That's a little simplistic, but that's how it works.

Didn’t School committee member and temporary mayor go into Steele House and other elderly housing tell them to vote Yes??????

The union and Taymore already have the raise all set. The vote yes will win. Forget the MPD and MFD/

The teachers do zip if they don't get paid. So if they are passing out flyers a deal has been made.

So get out and make your vote matter. April 2 2019 .Vote NO ON APRIL 2 2019

Hope the Russians are counting the votes. I trust them before Melrose government any day.

So get out and make your vote matter. April 2 2019 .Vote NO ON APRIL 2 2019

The Mismanagement lack of Transparency and Coverups. No on any Override.

In the last few years, the city has found 5 million for modular classrooms, 5 million for the high school learning common, and we are still paying the bond for the MVMMS (approx 2 million) Funny they can find all this money when they need to....this doesn't even include the renovations at the elementary schools. Curious

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't all of those construction and renovation projects bonded? So they didn't "find" that money. They borrowed that money?

Or am I getting my projects confused?

They may have been bonded....but they still have to be paid back. Never heard these projects come up in the override conversation. Maybe they did elsewhere...

Fire and Polce buildings and equipment were NEVER part of ANY conversation about the Override or need for new taxes.
Specific and deliberate decision by “One Melrose” and Illegitimate Gail. I voted NO and predict Melrose and Police did, too.

The One Melrose people are more concerned with soaking every other taxpayer in the City to give their little cretins a private school education in public sector because they can't afford to send them to private school. Or maybe they can't afford it because little Johnny or Sally only eats organic food from Whole foods. 🤣

I'm trying to look at the bight side, in that at least those of us who have never had, and never will have, children in the Melrose school system, only have to pay to educate other people's children through high school. Or maybe the next override will be for $5 billion, so we'll have to pay for their college education also! :)

Oh my God. Enough already with the "other people's children" idiocy. Tell you what. You go look up the countries that don't have taxpayer-funded, public primary and secondary education, and let me know if they sound like places you want to live.

The collective responsibility to educate all children, even if you don't have any, is one of the best things to happen to humanity. You realize that your ******* education was funded by people who don't have kids, right?

But it’s so much fun to get your cocoanuts in an uproar this early in the morning!

Some things to watch in the future with this fresh infusion of cash:
1) Have student outcomes improved? MCAS, ect.
2)Have teacher retention rated improved from 85%
3)How many school administrators will receive large raises for essentially doing the same job they have been doing? Remember, these proposed raises are not based on merit or performance.
4)Watch the new teacher contest when it is renegotiated
5)Watch new enrollment numbers to determine if the flood was actual or imagined

Just waiting for classless people such as yourself to continue showing their true colors. 😁

I have to “run right out” now and remove my “no” sign, I’m SO embarrassed 😄.
I’m sure that all the “yes” signs will be gone very shortly, because they (the “good guys”) wouldn’t want to rub our noses in it, lol.

Keep it Willie...you may have to use it again in the near future....why waste a perfectly good sign😁

Well that’s interesting. Someone has already removed apparently all of the “no” signs in my neighborhood. Thanks, I think, although I do not recall having given anyone permission to come onto my property!

That is interesting....

Although it's a pain it's important for NO voters to keep an eye on the money to see if it's being used as the override bill stated. It will be difficult because there won't be a clear trail but for the next override request, this information will be useful. There will be a next override request.

It is what it is.

The next override request.

Every resident should take the the time to view school committee meetings at MTV if they can't make the meetings in person. It is an absolute "educational" experience to see just how dysfunctional our school committee is and how undemocratic it is run.