http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20111214/NEWS02/712149929
Published December 14, 2011 in the Rutland Herald
Town budget of $9.4 million up $221,000
By SUSAN SMALLHEER
Staff Writer
SPRINGFIELD — Springfield has one of the highest tax rates in the state, but not the highest, Town Manager Robert Forguites told members of the Budget Advisory Panel Monday.
Forguites said that for 2010, the last year full figures are available from the state Department of Taxes, Springfield has the eighth highest tax rate.
Forguites said that the higher towns include Barre City, Middlebury, Brattleboro and Newport as well as other full-service towns and cities that have a full-time fire department, library and parks and recreation department.
The town of Sudbury has the unfortunate distinction of having the highest homestead tax rate, Forguites said, with $2.75 per $100 of assessed value. Springfield’s rate was $2.58, $1.40 to support schools and $1.17 to support town services.
“I’m not arguing we have a high tax rate,” Forguites said. “But we are the eighth highest.”
Al Tessier, a member of the budget group, had claimed last week and reiterated again Monday that Springfield had the highest tax rate in the state, but town officials countered with their own research. Tessier’s documents showed that Springfield had the highest tax rate in Windsor County.
Afterward, Forguites and Select Board Chairman Kristi Morris said that Springfield doesn’t have as large a tax base, such as the town of Hartford, which has the commercial hub of White River Junction and the second home development of Quechee Lakes to help shoulder the tax burden.
Morris said that Hartford had bigger budgets than Springfield, but a lower tax rate.
“I wish we had all those hotels to tax,” said Morris.
Forguites has proposed a $9,448,272 town budget for the 2012-13 fiscal year, which is up $221,957 from last year’s operating budget.
The proposed capital budget of $1,648,675 is up approximately $400,000, Forguites noted.
Tessier and another budget committee member, David Yesman, pressed Forguites what the proposed budget reflected in terms of taxes, but Forguites said that so many things were in a state of flux in the budget it was hard to say.
“Will the property tax stay the same or go down?” Yesman asked. “I’m looking for a number.”
For instance, there is no general increase for the Springfield town employees in the proposed $9.4 million budget, Forguites said.
Springfield has rejuvenated its budget committee this year and has 12 residents – 7 men and 5 women – on the budget review panel. In recent years, the town budget group was lucky to have a couple of members.
Monday’s budget session was an introduction to the budget; full detailed reviews are slated for January, Forguites said.
But despite that promise, budget committee members asked department heads plenty of questions about budget items, from large to small.
Several group members asked a lot of questions about a $1,500 request for a new computer for the lister’s office, with Lister Arnold Lashua noting the office had very slow hand-me-down computers that needed replacement.
The office has four computers, and the office wants to replace one this year, he said.
Budget committee member John Stettner said that for $1,500, the town should be able to get four computers, not one.
No one disputed the need for the new computer, but whether the $1,500 was an accurate reflection of the cost of a computer.
Making presentations were Russell Moore, the library director; Andy Bladyka, head of parks and recreation, Terri Emerson, director of the senior center; Meredith Dexter Kelley, town clerk; Jeff Mobus, comptroller, and Forguites.
The committee will hear from the other department heads Wednesday night including Fire Chief Russell Thompson, Police Chief Douglas Johnston, and Public Works Director Harry Henderson.
Good Lord, this is like listening to the crew of the Titanic lollygag around the bridge and "wish" that they hadn't hit that iceberg, while the ship continues to list helplessly in the sea.
ReplyDeleteHow ironic for at least one Springfield selectman to envy another town and "wish" that Springfield had "all those hotels" when Springfield itself sold its soul for one of the biggest roach hotels in the State of Vermont -- the Springfield Prison! Yep, the town is really raking in the tax revenues for that stupefying move!
And let’s forget all the quibbling about who has the highest tax rate in the state. Suffice it to say Springfield’s rate is too damn high already and needs to be pared back – PERIOD. But we have no public officials, elected or otherwise, who have the backbone to step up and DO THE RIGHT THING!
The budget process is clearly out of control if you have one department “estimating” the cost of a new computer at $1,500. That’s only overpriced by about 66%. My guess is that there are plenty of misleading or downright erroneous such “estimates” in the budget and that if the “Committee of However Many” (aka the Budget Advisory Group) were to conduct a line item audit of the budget they’d find that much of the budget build is based on the bad habits of the past. That is to say that there really is no rigor or true accuracy to the process. The objective for the municipal employees is to slide another incremental increase past the voters by predicting doom and gloom if the budget isn’t passed.
It’s time for Springfield to CLEAN HOUSE and install NEW MANAGEMENT ACROSS THE BOARD. We are being ill served by the current “crew of the Titanic” and instead of just allowing the band to play on.
This is AWFUL!!! My question is how do we get rid of these crooks who run the town. Once again, and even in the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, the government wants more. I have but one simple question: WHERE THE HELL DO YOU THINK THE TAXPAYERS ARE GOING TO GET THE MONEY TO SUPPLEMENT YOUR BUDGET??? Please, give me an answer. And despite an already $9.4 million budget, the town still looks like a dump and the school system is a failure. More, more, more. You know what? I want more. I want to actually see something for my tax dollars. But nope. What do we get? Inflated budgets and higher water rates/bills. Bob Forguites, You Are FIRED!!!! And take the rest of the public trough suckers with you! We, the residents of Springfield, have had enough. Now, in reponse to the poster above me...How do we get rid of these roaches??? I will do whatever we can to rid the town of these fiscally irresponsible leeches!!!
ReplyDeleteChange (all change, good or bad) takes time. Just as the town didn't hit difficult financial challenges overnight, it's going to take a lot more than kicking out a few selectman or bureaucrats to fix our woes. It's not a silver bullet solution, "throw the bums out!" doesn't work in a town of 9,000. We are all separated by a very few degrees. We're not an overly complex economic system beholden to strict political motives. We are a small town in VT that needs to make some important budget decisions. Ours is the politic of the personal. Chances are good that in little time someone will be yelling "throw the bums out!" in your direction, so it's best to make friends and just get on with it.
ReplyDeleteFor a good portion of Springfielders the tax rate is too high. But we also cannot let our infrastructure, schools and services lag behind. The decline in businesses and jobs have caused both a downward slide in population (i.e. people that would buy property and increase the tax base) and wage increases (rate of wage increases are not matching the rate in inflation). If we had more people making more money, we would have more owned property to make more tax revenue. This situation takes years, sometimes decades to be both created and surmounted. This (in long form) is what Selectman Morris was getting at with his comment about "hotels". What he said can be interpreted as blunt and envious, but it is truthfully honest. And Honesty is what Springfield needs, not negativity.
The honest truth is that Springfield is in a bind. Due to local missteps (and the failures of major manufacturing companies that did not look to or invest in the future) the town doesn't have the same tax base it had 25 years ago. Due to state wide missteps the town has been left to face more aggressive tax structures held by markets in competing markets like NH and MA. Due to national missteps what something costs 25 years ago now costs 3 or 4 times that. Due to changes in how the world does business the old solutions that once worked no longer do.
Springfielders have two options. We can complain and yell "kick the bums out!" until we are blue in the face. Or we can put our differences aside, come together as a community, decide what goals we need to reach and then get to work. The latter is far more difficult than the former. But the alternative, as some have suggested, is going down with the ship or getting stuck in the swamp with the "leeches". In Springfield, a town of 9,000, we are all in the same boat and we are all in the same quagmire. We don't call ourselves a community for nothing, so we better start acting like one.
@ Still A Springfielder: I agree with much of what you said. The problem is that no one can afford to live here anymore. I would love to be a part of the community but sadly I'm being taxed out of my home. That's not fiction; it's fact. I am glad some people still have some positive things to say about Springfield but I don't have decades to wait for change. We are in a time of financial ruin for many and while the government(s) still asks for and takes more, they tell us to do more with less. Very unbalanced and very fiscally irresponsible.
ReplyDeletere: Still A Springfielder
ReplyDeleteLike yourself I am a Springfield native, but also a commercial property owner, intl business owner and employer, relying on a skilled work force.
I can bear witness first hand, NO ONE with a viable education or trade skills wants to relocate to Springfield, and rightfully so. Such was the demise of Santec and every remaining tech business dependant upon a fresh labor pool for growth.
In vain, I have attempted to recruit skilled employees from throughout the country. Almost without exception, every candidate has declined relocating after touring the community and researching its offerings.
Go ahead raise taxes even higher. Force an aged population of seniors on fixed incomes out of their homes. Put another nail in the coffin of my and other remaining business.
Springfield lacks leadership and a vision of prosperity. What everyone clearly sees visiting here is proof positive of that. Change takes action and it's bound to be unsettling to the status quo. THROW THE BUMS OUT! DEMAND FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY! Springfield deserves better.
Springfield unfortunately has turned into the "hood." I agree with the above posting that there is nothing in this town to attract anyone other than someone looking to just move in and suck up State services. There is very limited jobs to earn a decent living, and schools are very much questionable. The town has just gotten poorer and poorer. Most children in the school system are very low income. Housing in this town is just plain sad, burned out homes, houses left empty - un-inhabitable. Springfield has been on the Move for so many years, but has only moved backward!
ReplyDelete@Still a Springfielder i appreciate your comments and positive attitude. And, you are right, in a few years people would be just advocating for us to throw out the new bums. We can't rely on town government to dig us out of this hole, they should certainly be part of it, but can't do it alone.
ReplyDeleteAlso, to the person that posted after still a springfielder, would you please run for the select board? You are successful, you have a vision, and you have my vote, if you can answer this question: What are the top 5 things an educated person would want out of a town in order for them to relocate there, provided there was a job for them? Perhaps that is the area we should focus on or the vision we should have for our town.
The end of the world happens next year.
ReplyDeleteYeah, when we ALL decide not to pay taxes..!!
Tax Strike. DONT PAY START TODAY
It’s plain to see that “Still a Springfielder” is “Still an Apologist” for the lack of leadership that has led to Springfield’s disintegration. All he/she is saying is “give peace a chance” and “work together” as a “community” and “be patient” and “don’t complain” and basically shut up and pay your taxes. This is exactly the attitude that has led Springfield to its current plight – a turn the other cheek mentality that blames Springfield’s downfall on external factors and gives a free pass to the incompetence that has consumed our town’s government for decades now. On the one hand, Still an Apologist would have us engage in “honesty” when confronting Springfield’s plight, but on the other, don’t be too honest or you’ll step over the line into brutal honesty, which they then label “negativity” because while it's truth they say they want, it's reality they seek to avoid.
ReplyDeleteThe fact of the matter is we are paying a hefty price to public servants who are letting us down on a daily basis. They have not set goals. They have no plan. They pass the buck year in and year out. And they prey on people like “Still an Apologist” to tolerate their poor performance and deflect the blame to we the people who foot an ever increasing bill for their incompetent management.
It’s well beyond time to quit apologizing for the perennial failings of our town government and raise the standards of performance. If the incumbents don’t measure up and demonstrate progress for the town (as they have truly not for the past 20-30 years), then they should be replaced and a new leadership team should be established. The same for the select board. If they can’t (or won’t) effectively oversee the town and hold its management accountable, then replace them with new members.
Too many citizens of the Town of Springfield (like Still and Apologist) have been advocating the singing of kumbaya for too long. It’s time for voters and taxpayers to make change happen by demanding the removal of the current municipal leadership team and replacing it with one that is capable of translating a vision for Springfield into a strategy for achieving it and knows how to set about resourcing it in innovative ways that develop the town economically and reduces the ridiculous burden being placed on taxpayers.
I'm "positive" about that!
"Positive" you talk about the leadership not having "goals" or a "plan", let's hear your ideas? What is one thing you would do if you were running the town to move it in the right direction? Would it be reduce the number of firefighters or police officers in order to reduce the tax rate? Would it be to eliminate the comp time policy for the highway department? Or eliminate the parks and recreation or library from the budget all together?
ReplyDeleteI understand this leadership doesn't seem to have a "plan" or "goals", but what would yours be? Bring something to the table...
We've been turning the other cheek for too long. Alot of people moving up here to be in a more rural area try to bring their plans from states like CT, R.I., and NJ thinking that they can just make Vermont into more like their home state. Well there is a reason why Vermont is not like your state, and the more you try to make it like something else, the worse it's going to get. More idiots who need to move back to their home state with their dumb ideals.
ReplyDeleteYou ask what can be brought to the table. The answer is, reign in spending, curtail tax exempt status of property, augment municipal services with work release prison labor, and open the industrial park that was supposed to be part of the prison package deal.
ReplyDeleteSpringfield has no need of a $600K parade vehicle for the fire dept, clandestine police cruisers, a $3M police palace, nor throwing monies down a rat hole for studies on a defunct, useless old reservoir. The list goes on and on.
A personal pet peeve is funding for the town band! JHFC, if the band is so unpopular that they can't pass the hat to support themselves, then why should I have to help? The Spfld Players operate with this scheme, so why can't the band????
I fully understand each of these items was voted thru by a general vote. And herein is the dilemma. Springfield has assumed a critical mass of parasites that are killing it from within. Over half of the residents are on the receiving end of social services, low income housing and entitlements. Add in all those employed by the school system, State offices, the town, HCRS and endless other institutions, no budget cut stands a chance of passing.
When elected to the select board, I will work to revise the town charter. No longer will articles be allowed on the town ballet without proof of NEED. Additionally I will mandate a $300 per month tax on all section eight housing. Such will negate the profitability and of turning multi family homes into slums. The tax will further help by adding a source of income to offset the demands section eight residents place on both town and out patient services.
Good jobs and the young, professional families they attract are key to prosperity in any community. To encourage their relocation here, I would seek to remove town funding to both SRDC and Spfld On The Dole. Then terminate both agencies and replace them with an unbiased town dept of economic development. A dept that at least has to answer to the taxpayers that fund it, as opposed to now, where there is NO accountability.
SRDC is essentially a property mgmt company with extensive real estate holdings. It and other influential people have effectively sought to curtail a new industrial park to protect their investments. I would make the new industrial park a show case of technology luring firms there by whatever means necessary, including free leases if maintaining a level of payroll.
Further, I would convince our two worthless representatives, Emmons and Martin to get out of politics, and stay home where they belong. Tax payers may be surprised to learn neither of these dolts makes any effort to visit or listen to employers. However they rarely miss a photo op to be seen at the unveiling of the latest tax payer funded philanthropy.
I would work to groom two new representatives that will generate positive action in Montpelier to benefit working class (not the parasites) Springfield residents. Including curtailing income taxes NH residents have to pay if employed in VT. Such tax puts VT employers at a disadvantage to draw from a regional labor pool.
I suspect I don't even have to suggest what sales tax has done to VT retailers up and down the Conn. River valley. Thanks a lot to our own representatives.
So, does that add anything to your table?
I agree wholeheartedly with the above post. Look we have a town police force with at least a half dozen police cars that sit empty most shifts and for what? So every officer employed can have their own vehicle. For God's sake it is a town of 5-9k people not a sprawling metropolis. 1500 dollars for a computer? Get real. Then their are the line item issues. We do not need to buy more updated equipment in a time when the taxes are outrageous and the economy is down. Fix what we have and make due like the rest of the real world has to.
ReplyDeleteSecond-One of the issues that is overlooked and ignored is the school system. While the town budget has nothing to do with that, the residents need to understand that IF the schools were top notch, passing the state requirements and exceeding expectations, that is the MAIN fact that will bring worthwhile citizens and property owners to town. Take Hanover for example. Why do families flock to move there and in essence invest money into that community? Because they can raise their kids. The money and investment follows by itself when there is a viable good educational system. For too long Springfield Schools have ripped off the public taxpayers with threats of doom and gloom, and saying "oh the kids will have fewer supplies and fewer field trips" REALLY well last time I checked I paid for my own childs supplies and any field trips that were even offered were minimal to nonexistant. We have one of the highest school budgets and when you look at the expenses and money going out it doesnt add up.
What that means for us as residents is that we need to demand accountability from the superintendant, the school board members and the administration at the schools. Their contracts should be tied to improvement. No improvement no job! PERIOD. Yet we allowed the board to approve an increase in pay for the administration individuals. There are SERIOUS SERIOUS issues at each of the schools that are withheld from the public spector and for good reason. Because if the public knew they would question at the very least the money we have been paying these people to run our system and schools. Ask the board where the 10K dollars plus that has been missing for years went? Why can't they account for it and why on earth would the board vote to replace it without accountability? Broken computers and misplacement of paperwork does not make it ok to just say "ok lets replace the money and move forward"
So what this means to us as taxpayers is the town should also be playing and active roll in reforming the school system. Whether that means the police dept picks up the truant kids, to patrolling when kids are out of school to actively taking part in reaching out to other entities and corporations who have a proven track record of giving back to the community via education etc to set up business in our town. I want to point out the town did nothing to facilitate KFC/Taco Bell who wanted to build on the land down by the highway. Instead we made it more difficult for that land to be developed and in the end it was made into a parking lot. We missed all the tax revenue that would have been brought by motorists and the extra (however small) jobs it would have provided to the local residents. That money all goes back into a community.
Condiser these things when VOTING springfield cause the long term effects you are ALLOWING have been and only will affect you negatively from this point forward.
I wanted to make one more point. The higher the taxes, the higher rent will be increased to cover those taxes. That goes for every senior citizen in the highrises and every renter. Whether you are section 8 or not. Your rent and expenses WILL INCREASE and affect you financially for the owners of the property to cover their own taxes. Take that to heart...if you are a state recipient of state insurance, social security, food stamps, childcare...whatever it is and WILL trickle down into your wallent also so remember that when it comes time to vote...JUST VOTE NO to any budget increase or SCHOOL BUDGET INCREASE!
ReplyDeleteYES! BEST. POST. ON. THIS. BLOG. EVER. And, not that i agree with 100% of everything in it, but because it is thought provoking, creative, and unlike every other negative post on this blog it is full of ideas that could move this town forward. Typically there are just a bunch of whiners here that complain and bitch, but never offer up alternatives. THANK YOU.
ReplyDeleteNow, i agree with a lot of what you said, the one point i would argue against is your elimination of SRDC. Not, 100% sure on this, but i believe SRDC can significantly leverage state and federal monies for certain projects that private developers just can't. I would argue it should stay.
Love the idea of using prison labor to augment municipal services. This idea should be used to beautify the entire town of Springfield. We should have the prettiest town in southern Vermont, because we have endless "free" labor right off the highway. In order to attract young families and professionals the aesthetics of town matter. I would launch a beautification effort (with the help of our FREE labor). We have to demolish defunct properties for the greater good.
I also like the idea of a tax on subsidized housing. Unfortunately, until we get professionals and young families those qualifying for housing subsidies are the only ones that will fill the housing need in the town.
Agree on Emmons and Martin, sweet, caring women, but we need bulldogs in Montpelier.
Again, thank you for your concrete ideas.
lol- whoever thinks bringing in a taco bell/ kfc would be a good move for any small community is a short-term, limited thinker.
ReplyDeletethe only way to truly revitalize a local economy is to have a vibrant, diverse selection of LOCAL businesses that are supported locally.
and fyi- relying on 'free' prison labor is just as short-sighted and unsustainable. in the end, you will simply build a reliance on a steady stream of fresh labor that will be populated by overly restrictive laws aggressively prosecuted.
springfield could be a healthy community by developing programs, projects (and yes, jobs) that focus on new technologies- particularly energy producing/ petroleum alternatives.
stop thinking there is some magic bullet from the state or feds- if you want change, it will have to start from within.
SRDC = MONSTERS
ReplyDelete"the one point i would argue against is your elimination of SRDC. Not, 100% sure on this, but i believe SRDC can significantly leverage state and federal monies for certain projects that private developers just can't. I would argue it should stay. "
- who ever wrote this is a dumbass
SRDC COCK BLOCKS LOCAL BUSINESS
"Love the idea of using prison labor to augment municipal services. This idea should be used to beautify the entire town of Springfield. We should have the prettiest town in southern Vermont, because we have endless "free" labor right off the highway. In order to attract young families and professionals the aesthetics of town matter. I would launch a beautification effort (with the help of our FREE labor). We have to demolish defunct properties for the greater good."
ReplyDelete- another dumbass.....
Yeah, inmates + the garden club = I want to move to Springfield with my children.
2 for the same person...
ReplyDelete"YES! BEST. POST. ON. THIS. BLOG. EVER. And, not that i agree with 100% of everything in it, but because it is thought provoking, creative, and unlike every other negative post on this blog it is full of ideas that could move this town forward. Typically there are just a bunch of whiners here that complain and bitch, but never offer up alternatives. THANK YOU."
-Dumbass.