Will $246 more in taxes choke you? What do you value?

Donate to Arlington Center for the Arts >>

UPDATED, June 12: The $63 million total when you add up the three questions voters face in the June 14 vote looks like a number that’s hard to swallow. You wonder: Won’t the tax increase choke me?

It could, depending on your situation.

So break down the amount to pay for four town projects. Each taxpayer has his or her share. What is yours?

The town manager’s office tries to answer that in a May 4 memo to the selectmen: $246 for the average annual tax bill for a single-family home.

That number won’t be added to your tax bill immediately. That’s the amount once all of the debt applies, in year 2020.

The average numbers are higher if you own a two- or a three-family and lower if you own a residential condo.

The numbers are also different depending on your tax bracket. You can see all that in the chart called “Memo_DebtExclusion_Data_Impacts_5_4_16.pdf” here >> 

Is the projected tax increase a burden or the steep cost to ensure an improved educational environment in Arlington’s future? It could be both.

How you answer that question depends on what you value.

Would you like to help pay for the feasibility study for a rebuilt Arlington High School? The cost is $2 million, but is it a goal you value?

Would you like to help pay for an expansion to the Thompson Elementary School? The cost is $4 million. Even if you don’t have a child at Thompson, could that increased space help the community?

Would you like to help pay to renovate the former Gibbs School? The cost is $25 million, an estimate higher than the architect suggested in late April. Supporting this aim will provided needed space for middle-school students, but it will also displace Arlington Center for the Arts. Facing this decision could make anyone feel ambivalent.

Would you like to help pay for the town’s share of Minuteman, knowing that of 16 member towns, only Belmont Town Meeting has backed out of deal. The cost is an estimated $32 million — a number that the manager’s office says “approximates maximum impact” and is “variable based on enrollment.” Is a vibrant vocational-technical school, the significant number of whose students come from Arlington, an educational mission you see as worthwhile?

Since this opinion was first written, a formal group opposing to this question only has made its presence known.

These are questions about values that each person must answer. The issue is not simply about numbers.

I answer each of the questions above with a clear yes.

I do so as a senior citizen on a limited income whose two daughters attended Arlington Public Schools and as a homeowner since 1989 who has seen his taxes quadruple. I value a future based on a solid educational foundation

What do you value?

As you consider this question, do not be misled by one voice in town who would like to include operatingl costs in your tax bill. While it’s valuable to know what future operating costs of school projects are, the bonding amount for the June 14 vote covers only capital costs. They are plenty, but they are needed.

This viewpoint was published Wednesday, May 18, 2016, and updated June 13, to add a link to an Advocate editorial, which is well argued. Read it here >>

New faces, energy as June ballot effort kicks off

With less than a month before the vote, an estimated 100 people filled the horseshoe at the Masonic Temple Sunday, May 15, as Build Arlington’s Future kicked off its campaign to support raising $63 million to pay for school projects.

Unlike the 2011 override to raise a permanent $6.5 million to keep the town operating, this campaign is for a debt exclusion to pay for bonds that will be paid off over 30 years. Unlike 2011, to date, this campaign does not yet have organized opposition.

Unlike such efforts in 2011 in 2005, this campaign has welcomed a myriad of new faces — activist parents who saw enrollment growing and support school officials in taking action to address these issues.

Jane Morgan, overseeing captains in the town’s 21 precincts, asked all to stand, and they did. She exhorted those present to identify supporters of the June 14 vote. “You do not need to convince the neighbors” who you think will vote no. Instead, she urged, talk to those on your block, to the right and to the left of your home, “and we can end this campaign tomorrow.”

Veterans of former vote drives know it won’t be that easy, but Morgan’s enthusiasm got the troops going.

The projects on the June ballot are a $2 million Arlington High School feasibility study, a $4 million Thompson Elementary School expansion, a $25 million renovation for the former Gibbs School and a $32 million share in the Minuteman High School project. Resolution of the last project remains stalled. Of 16 town meetings, only Belmont’s rejected paying its share.

If the debt exclusion is successful, a May 4 memo from Town Manager Chapdelaine says that the average annual tax bill would increase by about $245 once all of the debt is issued, in 2020.

Cochair Diane Mahon, the selectmen chair whose first such campaign dates to 1997, called the effort “doable and winnable.”

Cochair Jennifer Susse, School Committee chair, said to some laughter: “You only have to give a month of your life.”

School Committee member Paul Schlichtman provided enrollment numbers from 1993 to the present that illustrated his comment about the condo where he lives: “Now you’re tripping over baby carriages …. That’s why we need to do this.”

Minuteman parent A. Michael Ruderman held up a thumb and forefinger and repeated: “We’re this close” after eight years of work aimed at rebuilding the technical high school.

“Help us get the word out,” said Juliet Mohr, who with Lauren Ledger is among the new parents energizing the campaign.

“Not everyone knows about this,” Ledger said, urging parents to talk to their neighbors at soccer games and other sports events.

Among those in the audience were state Sen. Ken Donnelly and state Rep. Sean Garballey.

This report was published Monday, May 16, 2016.

UPDATED, May 13: The following statemen was issued by the campaign on May 11:

Build Arlington’s Future will kick off its campaign to educate voters about a Proposition 2½ debt exclusion on Sunday, May 15, from 6-8 pm at the Masonic Temple, 19 Academy St.

Arlington residents are invited to attend and learn more about the campaign. Speakers will include Diane Mahon, chair of the Board of Selectman, and Arlington School Committee Chair Jennifer Susse.

In a news release from the group, Selectman Dan Dunn said: “Our town needs these building projects in order to provide high-quality education for all of our students. Our enrollment is outgrowing our elementary and middle school space, and our high schools need significant investment and improvement. Our town has been careful in the use of taxpayer dollars, but we can’t meet all of our town’s needs with our current resources.”

Mahon, who is also a member of the School Enrollment Task Force, added in the release: “We are proud of our neighborhood schools and have been working hard as a community to provide buildings that support high-quality elementary education “Now we come to residents with plans to address needs at the middle school and high schools, too. When I talk with these older students, I hear their concerns for the future. They love their teachers and their schools, but recognize that outdated or crowded facilities are a distraction from learning.”

The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to hold a debt exclusion vote on June 14. The debt exclusion votes that the selectmen crafted support the first steps identified during months of study by the School Enrollment Task Force. They will help to address the issue of overcrowding in the elementary and middle schools, as well as the condition of Arlington’s high schools that threatens their accreditation.

Susse cited the size of this growth in enrollment: “In the last five years we’ve added about 500 students to Arlington’s public school buildings. In the next five years we expect to add another 500 students, and even more after that. That’s an increase of over 30% from 2005 to 2025. Even if we were to massively redistrict tomorrow by dislocating a huge percentage of our families, we would still not solve our problem. The fact is that we need to expand our capacity.”

School Committee member Kirsi Allison-Ampe said, “Our high school students need updated and educationally appropriate facilities, like modern science labs and classrooms without visual obstructions. They have been doing amazing things so far. Imagine what will happen if we give them the resources they actually need.”

The debt exclusion has been broken into three separate questions in order to meet the qualifications of receiving funding from the Massachusetts School Building Authority for both Arlington High School and Minuteman Vocational High School. Each question addresses part of Arlington’s long-term educational plan.

* Question 1 addresses overcrowded classrooms and schools at the Thompson Elementary School and the Ottoson Middle School. Funds would be used to renovate the Gibbs School so it can accommodate 500 middle-school students and to build an addition to alleviate overcrowding at the Thompson Elementary School (budgeted cost, $25 million for Gibbs; $4 million for Thompson).

* Question 2 addresses deteriorating conditions at Arlington High School, which is in danger of losing accreditation because of the condition of its facilities. Funds would be used to conduct a feasibility study, an important step toward receiving tens of millions of dollars from the state to cover a rebuild or renovation of the school (budgeted cost, $2 million).

* Question 3 addresses deteriorating conditions at Minuteman Vocational High School, which provides alternative educational paths to many Arlington students and meets our town’s obligation to provide a vocational education. It is also in danger of losing accreditation because of the condition of its facilities. The Massachusetts School Building Authority has approved this high school for a rebuild with up to $44 million in state reimbursement. Arlington is legally obligated to pay its share of the remaining costs (budgeted cost to Arlington, $32 million).

Bill Hayner, a member of the School Committee and the School Enrollment Task Force, agreed that expansion and facilities improvements are necessary. “There are many reasons to support the upcoming debt exclusions,” he said. “I think Benjamin Franklin said it best: ‘An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.’ As a senior, I interpret this to mean that the money I spend on education equals the quality of the doctors that I see.”

Mahon highlighted the importance of community in addressing the needs of our schools: “We need to come together again and support the work that needs to be done. Please vote yes on all three ballot questions so we can build Arlington’s future. The Build Arlington’s Future campaign will get information out to voters so they can make an informed choice.”

For more information about the campaign, go to www.buildarlingtonsfuture.org and www.facebook.com/buildarlingtonsfuture/

This campaign appeal was published Wednesday, May 11, 2016.

The following statement is by Jennifer Susse, who is chair of the School Committee, but she makes clear that this message not an official communication from the committee. “I take full responsibility for its content”:

A lot has happened over the last several weeks. Yesterday [April 25] the Board of Selectmen decided hold an election on Tuesday, June 14, to exclude from Proposition 2.5 the money needed to: i) create a feasibility study of our options for a High School rebuild or renovation, ii) expand capacity at the Middle School level, iii) add capacity at Thompson with a permanent addition, and iv) pay for a potential rebuild or renovation at Minuteman.

It is important to recognize what is at stake. If voters decide not to raise taxes to expand capacity at the middle and elementary school level, then those projects will be threatened and we are looking at extremely overcrowded schools. If voters decide not to raise taxes to pay for a Minuteman rebuild or renovation, we are still on the hook for that money and we would have to pay for the capital costs by cutting town services (teachers, public safety, and road repair).

Frankly neither scenario is attractive. I urge you to vote YES on June 14th and to volunteer your time and money, if you are able. I will send information soon on how to do that. The campaign is titled Build Arlington’s Future.

On Thursday, April 28, the School Enrollment Task Force (SETF) is meeting at Town Hall at 7 p.m. to hear a report from HMFH Architects on the cost and feasibility of the remaining two options for expanding capacity at the middle school level — adding to Ottoson or repurposing the Gibbs for school use.

On Monday, May 2, the SETF will offer its recommendation. If the recommendation is to repurpose Gibbs for school use, then the School Committee will have an important decision to make. We will need to decide whether Gibbs will be a townwide sixth grade or a smaller six-through-eighth-grade middle school.

In making the decision, we will have to weigh the logistical challenges of each option. In the case of a townwide sixth grade, there are logistical challenges involving our special-education programs.

In the case of a smaller middle school, there are logistical challenges involving splitting up grade-level teachers, ensuring equity across schools of different sizes and maintaining the current cluster model.

But we will also have to weigh competing visions. On the one hand, there is the vision of smaller neighborhood middle schools that 68 percent of our students can easily walk to.

On the other hand there, is the vision of a school that offers a transitional space to accommodate the unique social, emotional and academic needs of sixth-grade students.

For information about Ottoson teachers’ perspective, please see the April 14 Middle School Option presentation here >> 

I have some tentative good news about our financial picture. So far we have seen the governor’s and the House’s proposed budget. The Senate’s budget is expected at the end of May. As of now it looks as if the kindergarten grant is not going to be eliminated, which will allow the Arlington Public Schools to hire full-time kindergarten aids.

In addition, it looks as if Chapter 70 money may be slightly higher than we expected. Under the current town manager’s budget proposal, the schools receive any money above what was initially budgeted. It looks like we have the potential to receive an additional $171,000, which will likely be used to address our expected enrollment growth.

This viewpoint was published Tuesday, April 26, 2016, and it was updated with a rally announcement as well as the following, which was updated May 31:

Build Arlington’s Future was established as a ballot-question committee with a filing dated April 25, 2016, received in the town clerk’s office. The chair is Diane Mahon; the treasurer Annie LaCourt.

As of May 31, an opposition committee had filed paperwork, dated May 29, opposing only the Minuteman vote.