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Health & Fitness

Letter to the Hamilton Board of Selectmen

An Open Letter to the Hamilton Selectmen from Robert Sica

Wow! What's next?

Normally, Hamilton would be having a few quiet weeks after annual town meeting.  Not this year.  Instead, the town was abuzz with the Pirie Purchase Proposal…. Supposedly the answer to all of our tax problems and a way to meet our housing goals.  ”A Once in a Lifetime Opportunity”. 

Well, voters have spoken and that purchase is not going forward. 

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However, the Pirie property issue raised many very good points that we need to address... and address soon.

So what is next?

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Do we believe nothing more can be done? That the only solution for our town is more revenue and higher taxes?

Well, this writer sees many fruitful opportunities to move forward, some in small ways, and more importantly to work toward fundamental changes in how we manage our major costs. 

The expertise shown in these past weeks and the hard work of our town leaders demonstrate that much more can be done when there is commitment and desire.

One thing very clear to me is that housing development, with lots more students at our very high education costs, is not a financial “winner” for our town.

Also, we can do better than a Bed and Breakfast on the magnificent property gifted to us by Mrs. Patton.

How about a Patton Rehabilitation Center for returning warriors and veterans?  We could even add an equestrian therapy service, ideal for the estate.  We could work with a national veterans group and the federal government to make funding available for this to happen. 

Then we could add twelve to twenty or so senior housing units, in keeping with discussions with Mrs. Patton.  We already own the land, so these units could be truly affordable to seniors living in Hamilton and wishing to downsize.

We continue to struggle with the Gordon Conwell situation.  I wonder if the public is aware that there are 211 apartments, in six buildings, rented at fair market rates.  These are one-year leases, not dormitories. 

Sixty-five children live in these apartments and attend our regional school system.  The small PILOT (Payment In Lieu of Taxes) being paid by the seminary does not even begin to meet the costs to the town. 

We hold the seminary in high regard, and don’t want to burden it. However, we need to consider that these apartments (not part of their religious mission) bring the school approximately $2.5 million a year in income. 

A reasonable solution to this problem is at hand.  In addition to maintaining the existing PILOT, the seminary could raise rents only an average of $50 per month to raise an additional $126,600.00 per year.  At no out of pocket cost, the seminary could make 12 first-floor apartments available to Hamilton seniors (as current residents move out) who would pay the standard lease rate to the school. 

There are over 100 cars of residents on the campus registered in other states to avoid local excise tax, representing at least a $20,000 loss of income to the town. Whatever agreement we can reach must be time limited, as costs are sure to change over time.

Let’s get the Gordon Conwell issue resolved swiftly.  It’s been talked about for far too many years. 

The Emergency Operations Center (ECO) needs to be a top priority. 

Since Wenham moved to join a regional dispatch center in Middleton, Hamilton has had an increase of approximately $180,000 a year due to the loss of income from Wenham and loss of state grant money.  Our town manager has been charged with resolving this issue.  He needs help.  Our selectmen and perhaps chiefs of police and fire need to be brought in to provide more energy to get this important service back on track. Lets set a goal of four months to get this done. If other towns are unwilling to join our excellent ECO, we should consider joining Middleton as a last resort.

The schools…ahhh…the schools!

For starters, the selectmen need to get back to pushing for the implementation of the Operational Audit objectives. The audit was approved by an overwhelming citizen vote, at two town meetings. The selectmen need to honor the intent as well as the recommendations of this important report.

The selectmen need to insist that the towns get regular reports on how and when the audit will be implemened, including specific recommendations and actual dollars saved to date (if any). 

The audit was conducted by a nationally recognized leader in the area of school operations and projected a savings of up to THIRTEEN MILLION DOLLARS over five years, when implemented. 

Both the selectmen and the school committee no longer mention the Operational Audit. Is this a sign that they want it to go away? Selectmen need to set a maximum budget amount at the start of the school budget season. The recommended budget must not include debt exclusions or revolving account items designed to increase the overall funding of the schools.  We welcome changes in programs and curriculum that better prepare our students for the changes coming in our society.  These programs must be funded by re-allocation of existing funding rather than adding to the budget. 

We now have a far better school committee working hard to meet these challenges.  Yet monthly financial reports showing costs budgeted by line item against actuals are still NOT fully implemented and distributed for review of financial progress. 

As a result, we find large pockets of budgeted and unspent money at the end of each school year. 

Selectmen…. and FinCom…we need you to get on top of this! Were you aware that Belmont Schools, where our new superintendent worked prior to Hamilton, spend $2,675 (Source: DESE) less per student than we do?  And that the High School there was ranked 110th in the nation?

For starters, the selectmen of both towns should vote a 1 percent decrease in the core school budget for each of the next two years.

There is an unspoken issue that all of us know, but do not speak about.  Our costs are going up every year, especially in the schools. 

We need an intense long-range plan to enlarge the regional school system to include systems like Manchester-Essex, and Ipswich.  We should ask for help from the Governor’s Office. Our school system is just too small to be sustainable in its current size and form. 

Did you know that there are 1,802 children in Hamilton and Wenham that attend our schools?  This includes 65 children from Gordon Conwell who pay only a small PILOT to help. 

There are another 111 “School Choice” students for which we receive $5,000 per year per student. This is far too small a school system to be able to offer the advanced courses desired by parents of high school students.

Lastly, we continue to have a small number of students that we educate for FREE, who are the children of teachers who live out of district. 

WE CAN NO LONGER subsidize other towns’ budgets by providing education far below cost. We need to get the legislature to raise the school choice payment amount, or we may be forced to stop participating. 

With the schools representing 70 percent of all Hamilton town spending, gaining serious economies of scale by further regionalizing is necessary.  The alternative is to lower educational standards, something no one wants. 

Lets get to work. Your community is behind you!

Respectfully submitted,

Robert F. Sica 

Hamilton

 

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