MEMBER SIGN IN
Not a member? Become one today!
         iBerkshires     Williamstown Chamber     Williams College     Your Government     Land & Housing Debate
Search
Mount Greylock School Committee Talks Tax Equity, Response to Adams-Cheshire
By Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
04:04PM / Thursday, September 17, 2015
Print | Email  

School Committee member Chris Dodig said Tuesday that untaxed land should be factored into the district assessment because Williams College and the Clark 'add wealth to the community of Williamstown.'

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock School Committee on Tuesday debated whether the two-town district can or should account for the disparity between the amount of tax-exempt property in each town.

The committee is developing a proposed amendment to the regional agreement that governs the junior-senior high school district.
 
Responding to a request from officials in Lanesborough, the committee is aiming to change language in the agreement dealing with the apportionment of capital expenses — essentially looking to make that language mirror how the district apportions annual operating expenses.
 
Currently operating expenses are split on a formula that gives equal weight to the equalized valuations in each town and based on a five-year rolling average of student population from each town.
 
The capital apportionment currently takes a snapshot of the the equalized valuations in each town, the so-called "EQV," and student population at the time of bonding and uses those numbers to apportion cost throughout the life of the bond. The School Committee's Finance Committee recommends new language to the regional agreement that will readjust those population and EQV numbers annually — just like the district does for student population when apportioning operating expenses.
 
According to the state Department of Revenue, the most recent EQV for Lanesborough is $419 million; for Williamstown, it is just over $1 billion.
 
On Tuesday, committee member Chris Dodig suggested that the agreement could do more to achieve the goal of equity in apportioning cost.
 
Specifically, Dodig said the formula ought to account for land that is valuable but not covered by equalized valuation: the properties of Williams College and the Clark Art Institute.
 
"What we're talking about is using the same two factors [EQV and student population] and doing it in a way that does it better over time," Dodig said. "I think that's great.
 
"But what I'm wondering is equalized property value does not take into account tax-exempt property in town."
 
Dodig said that with the college and the art museum, Williamstown has 10 times as much untaxed land value as does Lanesborough.
 
"For me, that's the one I'm stuck on," he said. "Why aren't we looking at that and trying to either put that into the variable of equalized value or adding a third value that looks at that directly?
 
"Is that a way to be more equitable between the towns? And if not, why not?"
 
Mathematician Steven Miller, who ran the numbers for the finance committee, and Chairwmoman Carolyn Greene argued that the college makes extensive contributions to Mount Greylock without paying property taxes and that there is no current mechanism under state law to account for untaxed land when calculating EQV.
 
"The way I would view this is there are a lot of things going on under the surface," said Miller, who acknowledged that he is employed by the college. "Williams is contributing a lot to the school every year. There are a lot of college students coming in, a lot of jobs coming into the community, generous policies the college has to help people become property owners by giving them low-interest loans.
 
"Williams already is doing things that contribute to the ability of people in Williamstown to contribute to this."
 
Miller was alluding to things like the Williams Center at Mount Greylock, which brings in writing coaches, mentors and tutors from the college, among other academic collaborations.
 
Other college support for the school in recent years has included: the Williams Fund for Mount Greylock, which paid for professional development for the faculty; allowing Mount Greylock students to take classes at the college; and loaning the '62 Center for Theatre and Dance for the last two Mount Greylock spring musicals (because the school's own auditorium is not usable). The college, which does not have a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes program in place with the town of Williamstown, does have one with the Fire Department, which serves the Cold Spring Road campus.
 
Dodig, a Lanesborough resident, said other businesses provide "under the surface" support without enjoying tax-exempt status.
 
"I don't necessarily find that distinction to be persuasive on this point," Dodig said.
 
"[Williams and the Clark] are wealth factors for one community. I thought what we were trying to do is measure population and also measure the wealth of communities, the ability of communities to contribute. In my mind, it's indisputable that those entities add wealth to the community of Williamstown."
 
Greene, who also is employed by the college, said Mount Greylock can and should continue to engage the Williamstown non-profits to seek financial and in-kind support. But she did not see how their property holdings could be factored into the EQV formula.
 
Municipality EQV 2014
Williamstown 1,044,563,700
Lanesborough 419,083,500
"The other factor is simply the practicality of it," Greene said. "We don't have a mechanism in place for a college contribution or a Clark Art contribution or a non-taxable entity allocation for a capital improvement.
 
"There may be many other ways the college can support and the Clark can support. ... And I think it's in our best interest to pursue those and work with them as community partners, but it's not one of the tools we currently have in our kit. Bringing them into the mix without a way to deal with it is going to create a challenge practically, politically and legally."
 
Dodig remained unconvinced but unwilling to continue to press the point on Tuesday.
 
"We could have a discussion and a debate about these things," he said. "I guess I feel like we sacrifice a bit of equity for practicality.
 
"I've said my piece. I see I appear to be a minority up here. I appreciate you all hearing me out."
 
The next step for the amendment to the regional agreement is a discussion with Lanesborough Finance Committee member Stephen Wentworth and Williamstown Selectman Hugh Daley, Greene said.
 
The School Committee already has consulted the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education about the proposed amendment. DESE needs to approve it after it is passed by a special town meeting in each member town. The School Committee has alerted the boards of selectmen in each town of a need to hold meetings before the end of the year in order to have the agreement amendment in effect before a planned bond vote for Mount Greylock's addition/renovation project in the spring.
 
On Tuesday, Greene told her colleagues to plan on a special School Committee meeting on Oct. 13 to finalize language for the amendment so the committee can submit a formal special town meeting request to each town.
 
In other business, Greene shared with the committee a letter drafted by herself, Superintendent Douglas Dias and Lanesborough Elementary School Committee Chairwoman Regina DiLego to Adams Town Administrator Tony Mazzucco and the chairman of the Adams-Cheshire Regional School District Committee.
 
Mazzucco recently floated a proposal to dissolve the Mount Greylock district and have Lanesborough tuition its students into Hoosac Valley High School.
 
The Sept. 14 letter affirmed the district's and school committees' support for continuing the Mount Greylock district and said, "we see no educational benefit to making any changes."
 
The three officials put the onus on the Adams-Cheshire School Committee to develop a proposal for a partnership with the Lanesborough School Committee by Oct. 1, 2015.
 
Greene said Adams-Cheshire Chairman Paul Butler told her his committee is gathering information and may have a formal proposal by the end of the month. The next scheduled Adams-Cheshire meeting is Sept. 28, according to the district's website.
 
The Mount Greylock School Committee on Tuesday began talking about the budget for fiscal 2017, receiving a presentation on the budget process from Dias and Business Manager Nancy Rauscher.
 
 
The committee and Dias also expressed concern heading into the process about the cuts the district has made in recent years and questioned whether more cuts will be possible this go-around.
 
Dias pointed to the school's full-time equivalent, or FTE, chart and pointed out that the school has gone from 57 faculty FTEs in the 2013-14 school year to 50.60 FTEs in the current school year, an 11 percent drop.
 
"That's not sustainable," the first-year superintendent said. "I find that striking."
Comments
More Featured Stories
Williamstown.com is owned and operated by: Boxcar Media 102 Main Sreet, North Adams, MA 01247 -- T. 413-663-3384
© 2011 Boxcar Media LLC - All rights reserved