At the Annual Town Meeting April 6 and the Town Election April 9, Harvard residents will vote on the town’s budget for the new fiscal year.
The budget that has been recommended and will be presented to the town includes a Proposition 2½ override. Why, after living without an override for more than a decade, is it time for this override?
On the surface, this situation is relatively simple: The costs required to deliver the municipal services residents need, expect, and deserve are growing faster than our revenue base. Our town’s budget has reached this inflection point, with our needs outgrowing the bounds of Proposition 2½. While the math of the situation is simple, how we got here is also important to understand.
Our structural deficit isn’t breaking news. Over several years, town departments and committees have repeatedly had to scale back budget requests and delay needed positions, programs, or equipment. Through these cuts, a high level of diligence, and intelligent budgeting from town staff and committees, we’ve presented a balanced annual budget each year. It’s worth noting that our last successful override was 15 years ago, in 2009. This year, however, the remaining balance and resulting cuts required to balance the budget without an override carried too heavy an impact to recommend.
Through the budget cycle, it became clear that avoiding an override this year would negatively impact a wide range of the town’s services. Significant reductions in our schools, the Council on Aging, and the Harvard Public Library were prominent in everyone’s minds throughout this process, but they were far from alone. There are needs at the Board of Health, at the Police Department, and several other areas that this budget would not support. While some may argue that our job is to balance the budget, our job is also to ensure that the budget represents the values and best interests of the town. These cuts failed in this second measure.
Should the override not pass, the schools will have to make $340,000 in cuts to current programs and services, which will mean cuts to student-facing positions. Class sizes at all schools will increase as a result, and fewer sections and reduced elective classes will be available at the high school level if the override does not pass. The impact on the town side includes reduced coverage of the children’s room at the library, fewer new Council of Aging programs, and deferred maintenance of town properties and equipment, which will cost more in the long run.
What makes this year different is a fiscal perfect storm of circumstances beyond our control. Due to the impact of high inflation rates, all town departments are seeing higher costs for materials, transportation, assessments, utilities, fuel, and salaries compared to last year.
Reduced state aid to all town departments is another significant factor, as is an increase in health care costs and benefits for eligible staff.
When you add these factors to our existing structural deficit, the magnitude of the problem is clear: a shortfall of $423,920 ($201 per year for the average home). This amount represents the minimum needed to stay afloat, comply with state mandates, and ensure the current level of services, such as keeping existing hours at the library and Council on Aging and maintaining our best-in-class school district.
Recognizing that providing the same level of service is not sustainable given the growing needs of our town and the rising costs to maintain and grow a high-performing school district, we have included an additional override option or tier. The tier 2 option, Question 2B on the ballot, will cost roughly $753,000 ($368 per year for the average home) or $329,080 beyond tier 1. This option would enable the town to incrementally address critical positions that have been deferred, in some cases, for years. The tier 2 override will help move the Harvard public schools forward by funding current contractual obligations, improving the athletic experience with a full-time athletic director, and addressing high school student support with an additional special education teacher. On the town side, it will support long-delayed and much-needed administrative support for the Board of Health and Department of Public Works as both departments take on more multiyear projects, respond to the flurry of state mandates, and pursue grant opportunities.
We strongly encourage residents to vote “Yes” on Article 10 at the Annual Town Meeting April 6 (this approves the budget, pending the ballot) and to vote “Yes” on both ballot Questions 2A and 2B (endorsing tier 1 and tier 2, respectively, of the override) on April 9.
Abby Besse is chair, Harvard School Committee. Eric Ward is chair, Harvard Finance Committee. Rich Maiore is chair, Harvard Select Board.
