Update from Ward 4 Councilor Chris Markiewicz
November, 2018
In this Issue:
- Office Hours
- City Finances
- Zoning Update
- Marijuana Voting
Office Hours
My next session will be held November 10th from 10 a.m. until Noon at the Hamilton Community Center ( Blue Room ) 525 Grove St.
I hold office hours monthly at either the Hamilton Community Center or the Auburndale Community Library. Come and discuss whatever is on your mind.
City Finances
Earlier this month, Mayor Fuller along with the City's CFO: Maureen Lemieux and the City's Chief Operating Officer: Jonathan Yeo; presented an update on the City's financial position and a look at the the 5 year budget/plan for Capital Improvement projects.
When you consider the City's overall financial position you may consider the following perspectives:
- Ability to meet current obligations and maintain services
- Longer term implications and overall financial health
We are fiscally healthy in the sense that we are meeting our current obligation and have a solid credit rating so we can borrow, and borrow at favorable rates. We are able to add to our rainy day fund and work on reducing our large unfunded liability for pensions and retiree benefits.
Longer term, our plan to completely fund pensions by 2031 (Mass. Law requires this by 2040) is predicated on increasing the appropriation for this funding by 9.6% per year and earning healthy returns on our pension investment. This means that while this year we will pay just over $20m towards the unfunded pension amount, the amount we pay annually will increase to around $50m by 2031. The percentage of our budget that is spent on pensions today is 9.5%, which will increase to 12% by 2024 and more by 2031.
Notwithstanding the above challenge to eliminate the pension and subsequent to that the retiree benefit debt, we have a strong tax base that in many ways secures our future. The challenge is that spending to reduce our pension and other retiree obligations may force a trade off with other operational and capital expenditures that we want in the future. We are in this position today because we effectively paid the minimum we could to meet current obligations for pension and employee retirement benefits in the past. There are other reasons as well but the under funding built up over many years and wasn't helped by things like the 2008 stock market collapse. In this respect however, Newton is no different from many other Massachusetts cities and towns that made the same decision.
At some point we had to address the shortfall. The law also now requires it, as noted above. While not entirely popular, recognize that the people working to fix the shortfall were not the decision makers during the time the shortfall accumulated. One last perspective is that while the debt is large, it is one that will be paid out over many years, so it's not all due today. So we're not broke, nor are we likely to be, however, we may face some tough trade-offs in the future.
Now for some stats: The City's operating revenue is about $410 million. This is accounted for in the General Fund. While the City has other funds these "enterprise" funds are essentially cost recovery and are not included here, nor are they of any concern.
The primary source of revenue ( 83%) is from Residential and Commercial property taxes. The City receives or generates an additional $70m (17%) from grants and fees. This distinction is important because our ability to increase revenue ( actual dollars ) from property taxes is limited by law to 2.5% per year. Your individual tax bill may increase more or less because your share of the overall assessment may change. This is due to changes that may occur in the valuation of your property relative to others.
That $70m which is not from taxes, is largely comprised of grants from the Commonwealth plus excise tax revenue, meal tax revenue and fees from permits. While not limited by the 2.5% cap, keep in mind that long term, the Commonwealth's financial health can affect the amount of aid provided to cities and towns.
Finally, spending on capital projects this year includes:
- Ongoing work on streets, currently planned at over $9m per year
- Repairs to school building, including things like new boilers ( some of these projects receive funds from the Commonwealth that cover significant portions of the cost )
- New Cabot School ( approved in prior years )
You can find the Supplemental Capital Improvement for FY 2019-2023 here.
Zoning Update
As noted in previous newsletters, zoning reform is a major initiative for the City and will be getting plenty of attention over the next year. The Planning department has created a first draft of the new Zoning Ordinance found here.
The Zoning ordinances are drafted by the Planning Dept and then reviewed, and ultimately approved by the City Council.
Some key takeaways:
There is a lot to read here, but the key is to understand the major change in how the zoning ordinance will be applied. Today we look at individual parcels that are categorized into single family types, multi residence types, business types an so on. For each of these category/types there are rules, if you will, in the form of dimensional controls, that is, how much space can you occupy, how high can the structure be, how close can it be to the next building etc. The zoning that is being proposed does have categories, called "districts" as well, they are called Residential, Village and Single Purpose.The guidance now is more on what types of structures fit into those patterns. The use of dimensional controls will be reduced. So it is more judgmental in a sense than focused on measurements. The intention is to preserve the character of an area or village while at the same time allowing for evolution that is consistent with the feel of the place today.
Something to focus on:
This is sort of like getting your report card or evaluation and turning quickly to the grade or rating part, but look at the zoning map. The map can be expanded on your browser. Look to see what district your neighborhood has been assigned and then tie that back to the description in the main document. This will give you some idea as to how future zoning decisions may be determined. NOW THIS IS ONLY A DRAFT so if you have questions, concerns etc. organize your thoughts...... there will be meetings and presentations in each village. You will have a chance to ask questions and provide input. I recommend though that you pay attention to this. Newton hasn't had any substantial zoning changes since 1953 and many of our existing properties are "non-conforming" even with that set of codes. We need reform to provide more certainty in planning and to reduce the number of requests for special permits and variances that a good set of ordinances can provide. But, we need to make sure that the new zoning provides a basis to protect and further the character of the village oriented City we have today. I, for one, am proceeding cautiously with my opinion regarding the pending zoning ordinance. It is time to be informed and time to be involved.
Marijuana Voting
When you vote in Newton this November, you will receive 2 ballots. One for the state election and one for the municipal election. The municipal election is for the marijuana question. The way the questions are presented may lead some to be unsure as to what the outcome of their vote may be since they are independent questions and only 1 of the 2 will be adopted if both pass. Because each question is voted independently. If both "pass", the one with the higher number of votes will be the one adopted.
"Opt-out" Question:
All recreational retail marijuana establishments shall be prohibited from operating in Newton
If you vote yes, you are voting to give the City Council the right to refuse permits for the sale of recreational marijuana.
" 2 to 4" Question:
The number of retail recreational marijuana establishments allowed to operate shall not be fewer two or more than four establishments set by a general ordinance set by the City Council.
If you vote yes, you are voting to allow no fewer than 2 nor more than 4 recreational establishments.
Here are three scenarios and how you could vote depending on which of these total outcomes you want:
- If you want no commercial establishments selling marijuana in Newton and are willing to take a chance that if it fails ( "opt-out" gets more no than yes votes ) "2 to 4" will pass and at least limit the number of establishments, vote Yes on "opt-out" and No on "2 to 4". This is because you will have voted to "opt out" and not voted for the limitation imposed by "2 to 4, which if it passes, and has more votes than "opt-out" would effectively override the "ban" and allow 2 to 4 recreational establishments. You could still vote yes on both though if you were concerned that "opt-out" might fail and "2 - 4 "would at least limit the number of establishments. This is perhaps the most confusing of the 3 scenarios.
- If you want to allow commercial sales, but limit it from 2 to 4 stores, then vote No on "opt-out" and yes on "2 - 4".
If you want to allow as many recreational establishments as the City Council permits, vote No on both questions.
I am not endorsing any particular position here, this is presented only to help you sort through what can be somewhat confusing.
Finally, note that even if Newton votes to "Opt out", it is non-binding. The City Council can still license via the special permit process. What opting out effectively does is give permission from the voters to the Council to ban sales. Without "opting-out" the Council has less ability to deny the special permit required for a license to sell recreational marijuana.
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