Adams Town Meeting Approves Budget, 25 Warrant Articles
The Selectmen supported the budget but were split in their support to fund a school nurse for the private St. Stanislaus Kostka School. |
ADAMS, Mass. — Town meeting easily approved spending an additional $17,500 in the $13.7 million fiscal 2013 budget to keep funding a school nurse position at St. Stanislaus Kostka School.
The budget and all 25 warrant articles were passed overwhelmingly.
The school nurse position at the private parochial school had been removed from the Board of Health's budget line because town counsel deemed that the spending was unconstitutional.
Edmund St. John III said he had written three opinions in the last decade advising the town that funding the position violated both the federal and state constitutions by crossing the separation of church and state line and by funding a private enterprise with taxpayer funds.
"I feel it is unconstitutional to expend public funds for this position," St. John said.
But 79 of 110 town meeting voters felt the position was too important to lose and opted to add it back into the town's budget.
"It is providing a service to the children of local taxpayers," said school Principal Sister Jacqueline Kazanowski.
Kazanowski said the majority of her students are from town and that nursing position has been funded with taxpayer money since at least 1989. The town reaps a benefit with the school being there, she said, because parents who opt to send their children to St. Stan's are paying taxes for the public school system while paying out of pocket for their education.
Town meeting member Starr Baker supported the position. The members then sided with a motion from Jeffrey Lefebvre to reinstate the funding by a 79-26 margin — the closest vote of the night on 25 warrant articles.
The $13,744,336 budget is an increase of about $357,000 from last year and is expected to raise the property tax rate to $19.39 per $100,000 of assessed value. However, Butler said the rate is misleading because the town recently had a reassessment and property values have declined, he said.
The presentation from the Finance Committee included a page estimating the change in an average tax bill and compared that to other towns. The estimated tax increase, for an average assessment of $134,000, would be $152, according to the presentation. But that is still an estimate because state reimbursement has not been finalized.
The budget includes $4,715,486 for the Adams-Cheshire Regional School District. Town meeting member John Cowie made a pitch to cut that budget by a half-million dollars.
Cowie said the district is losing students and the cut would force the district to find a way to fix that problem.
"There is something going on that isn't being addressed," he said.
Superintendent Kristen Gordon, however, said the district is losing the same number of students as they gain through school choice and next year's projections are looking even better. The district is working on promoting Hoosac Valley Middle and High School as a "school for all" to retain students, she said.
But Gordon didn't have to do too much convincing because Cowie's motion didn't pass.
Sister Jacqueline Kazanowski noted the town had funded the school nurse position since 1989. |
The budget also includes a funding half of the cost for a new tourism director position. The town will be looking to hire a director halfway through the fiscal year to improve the town's tourism economy, Town Administrator Jonathan Butler said.
The budget asks for $25,000 to fund the position for half a year; the cost for a full year will be built into next year's budget.
"It's time to have somebody in Adams thinking about tourism every day," Butler said, adding that the position will coordinate all tourism activities.
Many town meeting members questioned the benefits the position would provide and felt the paid position undermines volunteer work that others spend on tourism — such as the Adams Events Committee. But ultimately, voters approved the budget that included the position.
Additionally the budget provides $50,000 for repairs on the Memorial Middle School. Butler said the town will use that money for engineering and the community development department will be trying to find grant programs to fund substantial repairs.
"We can potentially leverage this $50,000 for much more," Butler said.
The town is negotiating with sauce-maker Ooma Tessoro's and the Youth Center to reoccupy the building.
Another hot-button issue at Monday's town meeting was the approval of a special tax incentive for TOG Manufacturing to move into the Adams Corporate Park. The company was nearing a deal to move the business from North Adams to a larger place in Pittsfield. The town was contacted by North Adams Mayor Richard Alcombright looking to keep the jobs in North County because the city couldn't find a viable property for the company.
According to Butler, the city of Pittsfield was offering tax incentives and the town had to do the same to keep the jobs here. The incentive will abate all taxes for two years and then in the following five years, the percentage of abated taxes would decrease.
Meanwhile, the company will keep the 45 employees it already has, add at least five more and invest some $700,000 into the building.
But some town meeting members felt the town wasn't reaping enough of a benefit by providing the abatements.
"This town is not gaining anything by bringing TOG in," Matthew Wilk said. "There is no incentive for us to do this."
Wilk called the threat to move to Pittsfield "smoke and mirrors" and said the company doesn't need the incentives. Wilk motioned to table the article and have the Selectmen study the plan and present show the benefits but couldn't find support.
Tags: Adams Memorial Middle School, school budget, town meeting 2013,
