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GLOBE EDITORIAL
Local pressuresAFTER TWO years of battering by state government, about 1,000 city and town officials are again "putting on the armor and getting ready to weigh in," in the words of Geoffrey Beckwith, director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association. It's an apt metaphor for the group's annual meeting today and tomorrow given the siege mentality that exists in municipal budget offices across the state.
The loss of more than $500 million in state aid between fiscal years 2002 and 2004 and increases in fixed costs such as health care have strangled suburbs and cities alike. Layoffs and attrition eliminated more than 1,000 public safety and other municipal workers in the last two fiscal years, according to the Municipal Association survey. And that was based on reporting from just 135 of the state's 351 cities and towns. More than 1,300 full-time teaching positions were lost or reduced in the same period with just 111 school districts reporting, according to the Massachusetts Association of School Committees. State tax revenues are climbing. But cities, which depend heavily on regressive property taxes, require more time to recover. The Romney administration is building up the state's reserves. But many cities and towns are still drawing down on theirs. Municipalities need a break from the pressures in the form of increases in local aid or an end to the diversion of Lottery funds that should be used to provide municipal services, not balance the state budget. Governor Romney showed understanding last night in his State of the State address by proposing "a modest increase" in local aid. Municipal officials should also welcome the governor's emphasis on clearing the backlog of school construction projects and funding full-day kindergarten in poorly performing districts. Many municipal officials will need to see details before they can determine the impact of the governor's speech. Much suspicion remains based on their experiences last January, when state budget writers seemed to recommend increases in Chapter 70 education funding only to eliminate other education accounts, including school transportation and early-childhood education. Romney's speech, however, went a long way toward restoring the state-local partnership, acknowledging how hard local officials have worked to pare back expenditures. Many of the Municipal Association workshops, in fact, will serve as how-to manuals for improving municipal finances, such as how to provide cheaper electricity through the creation of municipal light plants. Romney made straight for the door last year after his gloomy speech to the local officials. Today he might want to linger longer and rebuild some bridges. © Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.
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