School bond, start time costs loom for FTM voters

Tax cap vote: 'I think they should stay with 4 percent' says one resident

By Josh Bickford
Posted 2/18/17

The superintendent wants to stay positive.

Michael Messore, the top administrator for Barrington schools, said he prefers to think about a "yes" vote at the upcoming special financial town …

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School bond, start time costs loom for FTM voters

Tax cap vote: 'I think they should stay with 4 percent' says one resident

Posted

The superintendent wants to stay positive.

Michael Messore, the top administrator for Barrington schools, said he prefers to think about a "yes" vote at the upcoming special financial town meeting. 

It will be at that meeting on March 16 when taxpayers will decide whether to exceed the 4 percent tax cap — a step that school officials say will be necessary in order to afford payments on a $68.4 million bond to build a new middle school.

Later dismissal time concerns Barrington parents.

Members of the town council already voted "yes" to exceed the cap; some said it was the logical step following a majority vote to approve the school bond back on Nov. 8. 

But would school officials need a "yes" vote in order to move forward on the project? 

Tom "TR" Rimoshytus is not so sure. 

Mr. Rimoshytus, a longtime resident of Barrington, said he plans for vote "no" at the special financial town meeting, and believes that school officials need to reduce the price on the middle school project so that it fits within the state-mandated 4 percent tax cap.

"I think there's a little fluff in there," Mr. Rimoshytus said about the middle school plans. "I think they should stay with 4 percent."

Officials share plans for cost-efficient start time change.

Mr. Rimoshytus said the price tag hanging on the new middle school project is too expensive and needs to be reduced. 

School officials counter, saying that work has been underway to reduce the cost of the project which initially carried an $80 million estimate. School officials said that earlier this month the building committee authorized the architect, Kaestle Boos Associates, to move out of the schematic design phase into the design development phase because the firm was able to demonstrate that the project can be completed within the budget. 

If the project cost remains at $68.4 million, the payments on the bond would total approximately $3 million each year. School officials said a $3 million bond payment alone exceeds the 4 percent tax cap, and that is not including raises for teachers and other contractual increases over the current operating budget. It is more likely to expect a tax increase of 8 or 9 percent, said officials at a recent meeting.

Mr. Rimoshytus argues that allowing school officials to exceed the cap would be like giving them an "open checkbook." 

Mr. Rimoshytus is not alone in his concerns. Earlier this month, Starbrook Drive resident Peter Clifford wrote a letter to the editor challenging the elimination of the 4 percent tax cap.

"Before voting on the tax cap repeal, the voters need to know if there will be any cap and what it will be," he wrote. "Giving the town a 'blank check' seems fiscally irresponsible. The voters should be allowed to vote on a revised cap that will reasonably accommodate funding of both the middle school project and normal town operations."

Some of the concerns about a "blank check" for the schools are also based in the district's decision to alter start times at the high school and middle school. 

The move to later start times at those two schools — it was approved by the school committee about a year ago — will reportedly cost the district more than $400,000 annually. Recently school officials have been exploring a "more cost neutral" approach to changing start times, but at a workshop earlier this month administrators said the $419,000 cost could not be further reduced if the schools were to stick with an 8:30 a.m. start time. (On Thursday night, officials shared plans for a possible move to an 8:15 a.m. start time; the high school and middle school currently start at 7:45 and 7:40, respectively.)

A $3 million annual bond payment, plus an increase of $419,000 for the start time change, and the contractual increases for teachers and utilities will combine to create staggering tax bills for Barrington residents, said Mr. Rimoshytus.

"It's going to be a lot more money," he said.

Bay Road resident Joan McHugh shared some of her concerns in a recent letter to the editor.

"A group of us, grandparents who supported the construction of a new middle school, and the additional tax that will impose, are protesting against the decision to change school start times which adds to the tax burden," she wrote. 

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