Visitors to the Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge in Still River on Tuesday, Oct. 1, found this sign across a closed gate. (Photo by John Osborn)
The sign greeting visitors to Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge on Tuesday, the first day of the 2013 federal government shutdown, said it all.
“Due to a lapse in appropriations, all U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lands, including National Wildlife Refuges, are closed for the duration of the federal government shutdown.”
On the other side of the river, at the Devens Enterprise Commission, Land Use Administrator/Director Peter Lowitt told the Press that a civilian contractor working for the Army was reviewing plans on Tuesday for the Bristol-Myers Squibb expansion at Devens when he got a call ordering him to vacate the premises. “That was sort of visceral and immediate,” said Lowitt. According to Lowitt, a delay in the Army’s review of the plans would not hold up the expansion.
‘Nothing at this point’
As the U.S. government began shutting down Tuesday morning, the first day of its new fiscal year, a quick sampling of town officials here in Harvard revealed few signs of a local impact. In the absence of a budget, many federal agencies lack the money they need to continue operating. State and municipal governments, with their own taxes and fees, are relatively unaffected.
Asked about potential impact, Town Administrator Tim Bragan said, “Nothing at this point,” and Finance Director Lorraine Leonard added that she “was not aware of anything.” Leonard remembers the government shutdown of 1996 and said, “I don’t remember any repercussions to the town.” Interim Superintendent Joseph Connelly said that he doesn’t anticipate any impact on the schools. “Federal funding is a very small percentage of our funding,” said Connelly. “We have a small special education grant, a small Title I grant, and a few other small grants, but they are paid quarterly and channeled through the state.”
Debbie Thompson, Director of the Council on Aging, said that there was “no discernable effect. If it goes on for awhile, we may find that it will trickle down to some things that will affect us.” She explained that they’re primarily a service organization. “A lot of COA work is done by volunteers.”
When asked if the seniors were nervous about continuing to receive Social Security benefits, Thompson said that so far she hasn’t seen that, but if this goes on for a few weeks, she expects some people will begin to get nervous. “Today was the first of the month, and everyone who was supposed to get a check got one,” she said. Even though the shutdown has not had a direct impact on the town’s seniors, it has been a major topic at Hildreth House gatherings. “The discussions at lunchtime were interesting,” said Thompson on Tuesday. The consensus was to remove the politicians from office, although that sentiment was expressed with a bit more color.
The shutdown may not have affected the town as a whole, but some individuals are feeling an impact. Harvard resident Leyla Sahin, who works for the FDA, said that she wasn’t furloughed because her work is funded by user fees. But she added, “There is a lot of uncertainty, as we don’t know how long the shutdown will go on for and how long we will be funded for. Many of my colleagues whose work is not funded by user fees have been furloughed.”
Uneasiness among realtors
There is also uneasiness in the real estate arena. Susan Tsantes, manager of the Acton, Bolton, and Westford Coldwell Banker offices, said on Tuesday, “We started getting calls from nervous buyers and sellers with deals under agreement last week.” Rick Renna, VP of NE Moves Mortgage, which is affiliated with Coldwell Banker, explained that buyers are worried about new loans being delayed. “Lenders are required to obtain transcripts of tax returns from the Internal Revenue Service,” said Renna. If the IRS employees that provide those transcripts aren’t working, lenders can’t get the transcripts, and loans will be held up. If this goes on for an extended period of time, there will be a backlog when they do open again.” In addition, Renna said that FHA and VA loan applications may be delayed due to staff furloughs.
While the shutdown goes on, mail will continue to be delivered and passports will continue to be issued. Both of those services are paid for by fees, not government funding. There’s a lot of conflicting information in the media and on the Internet about whether or not new applications for Social Security and Medicare will be processed, but according to the government’s Social Security website explaining shutdown services at http://www.ssa.gov/shutdown/, applications for new benefits will continue to be processed.
