Welcome* to Medfield

*Especially if you don't have children

Children can be expensive, and not just for parents.

When a family with kids moves into a suburb, some local officials say, the community takes a financial hit because of the added enrollment in public schools. A family in a moderately priced house pays a few thousand dollars a year in property taxes, but the cost of educating a child is often more than that. Throw in a second student, and the family is a sure revenue-loser for the town, some officials say.

"When you're planning development, unfortunately because of the structure of how you pay for education in Massachusetts, children become the enemy," said Medfield Selectman Osler Peterson. "It's very inappropriate, but that's what you need to do in order to keep your costs contained as a town."

"As a general principle, a household that's sending more than one child into the school system is probably costing the town money," said Holliston Town Administrator Paul LeBeau.

The sentiment isn't universal; officials in some communities say concerns about the cost of educating new children are overstated. And to be sure, no communities are trying to kick out children who are already there. But with many municipalities already spending half or more of their annual budgets on education, some officials think communities should be working to attract newcomers who will add money to the bottom line.

In Medfield, Peterson was a proponent of a new senior center, arguing that it would help the town retain older residents, whose children are grown. Other communities have pursued housing developments with over-55 age restrictions, or tried to lure businesses as ways of beefing up revenue without adding school expenses. And proponents of conservation-land purchases sometimes make the argument that if land isn't bought by the town, it will be turned into subdivisions that will add children to the schools.

Wrentham Selectman John Zizza said his community missed out on a 200-acre purchase several years ago. By his calculations, additional schoolchildren from houses built on the land will cost Wrentham nearly $300,000 more per year than if the town had bought the land.

In another instance, Zizza opposed a proposed 200-unit apartment complex that ultimately was abandoned by developers this spring. He objected in part because of traffic and density concerns, but also because of the number of children it would have added to the schools.

While the developer estimated that the complex would add 20 schoolchildren, Zizza said, town officials thought it would add 100. The project would have cost the town $500,000 a year more than it would have brought in new taxes, he said.

"Especially in these economic times, you certainly don't want to throw a $500,000 burden on the taxpayers," Zizza said.

With the complex proposed under the state's Chapter 40B affordable-housing program, 25 percent of its units would have been set aside for rent at below-market rates. Aaron Gornstein, executive director of the Citizens' Housing and Planning Association, a statewide nonprofit group, said municipal officials often argue against 40B projects because of the number of children they are thought to bring.

"It's probably the number one argument we hear against affordable housing," Gornstein said.

Gornstein, whose group encourages housing for low-income families and individuals, said officials often overestimate the number of children that will come along with such developments. As a result, he said, towns are quicker to embrace age-restricted housing, or 40B developments with primarily one- or two-bedroom units.

"We've approved every over-55 unit that's come before us if it was in any way feasible," said Plainville Selectwoman Andrea Soucy, explaining that homes with children put a larger strain on town services.

Patrick Reffett, Natick's community development director, said the "vast majority" of his town's new affordable units have one or two bedrooms, some of them in high-rise buildings that are better suited to young professionals than families.

"They're not generating kids," Reffett said of the housing developments. "Those high-rises tend to be very profitable for the local community because they're making relatively few demands on infrastructure."

In Medfield, Peterson helped to negotiate the specifics of a 440-unit housing complex that is being planned for the former Medfield State Hospital site. The goal was to bring in a project that would generate as much revenue as it would cost the town, or more, he said.

"I was literally embarrassed when I was working through the deal and I realized what I was doing was negotiating to keep children out of town," Peterson said.

Medfield's town administrator, Michael Sullivan, said he saw the negotiations not as a way to keep youngsters out but as a way to offer local senior citizens more housing options. Some of the units will carry age restrictions.

"If you're a family with two or three kids, you can look at Colonials, you can look at ranches," Sullivan, 62, said. "You've got choices. With somebody my age, who wants to downsize, there's very little choice."

The 2000 Census showed that 33.6 percent of Medfield residents were under 18 years old, the highest percentage in the state, Sullivan said.

"We get tarred and feathered saying we don't want kids, and that's not it," Sullivan said. "We already have kids. If we have the highest percentage of kids under 18 in the state, we're obviously meeting needs for families."

Not all officials agree that children moving into town automatically means a revenue loss. Weston Town Manager Donna VanderClock said the topic "has not been a focus of any concerted discussion" in her community, and that without a financial analysis, she couldn't say which types of residents cost the town the most money.

Jim Lehan, a Norfolk selectman, said his town's "controlled growth" of 15 or 20 homes per year has a minimal financial impact on the municipal budget.

While Norfolk's elementary schools spent more than $11,000 per pupil last year, each new student doesn't add that amount to the budget, Lehan said. Some costs, such as administration and utilities, are fixed regardless of the number of students. Half a dozen kids spread throughout different grades wouldn't even require new teachers, he said.

"You're not adding a single additional cost, except maybe a textbook," Lehan said.

Gornstein, head of the nonprofit housing group, agreed with Lehan. He also noted that many school districts receive about half their funding from the state, meaning towns don't have to pay the entire expense associated with new students.

Lehan said some residents in his town would like to see a complete stop to home construction, an idea he called "a ridiculous philosophy."

"We need to provide housing for all kinds of families," Lehan said. "That's what communities do. Stopping growth is not the answer."

But Zizza, the Wrentham selectman, said he isn't worried if his town is labeled as antigrowth.

"Personally, if someone thinks it's difficult to build a house in Wrentham, let them buy land in another town," Zizza said. "It doesn't hurt Wrentham. Every new house costs us money."