Cities and towns across the state were reeling last week at the news that local aid is likely to be cut by 4 percent for fiscal year 2011. But in Harvard, that could be seen as good news: town officials started the budget season in November with a conservative estimate of a 15 percent cut, and more recently have been using 10 percent in their projections. As of press time, mid-week, there has been no word about how a 4 percent cut would affect the proposed town budget. Tim Bragan, Harvard’s town administrator, said Tuesday at this week’s Board of Selectmen meeting, “We have not yet taken it up with the Finance Committee and can’t know what the effect will be on the budgeting process until we do.”
The Finance Committee was to have met on Wednesday, March 17.
Massachusetts House and Senate Ways and Means chairmen Charles A. Murphy and Steven Panagiotakos announced on March 12 that cities and towns would likely see cuts of “no more than” 4 percent in fiscal year 2011. The statement from the House and Senate also said that “all school districts can count on being funded at their foundation level of support.”
According to the Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA), “a cut of 4 percent would translate into a $200 million reduction in the combined unrestricted general government aid and Chapter 70 education aid amounts. Specific numbers for each account, and for each community, are not yet available, and they may not be released until the House Ways and Means Committee’s budget plan is reported to the full House in mid-April.”
Representative Jen Benson, in an interview with the Press, advised the town “to plan for 4 percent [cut] for local aid, although it could be better. We are waiting for $750,000 in aid from the federal government, although we don’t know whether that’s coming.”
