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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
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“To be trusted
is a greater compliment than being loved.” — George MacDonald
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2013
VOL. 82 NO. 298
75 cents
Council drops tax levy issue The canal blocked by a beaver dam, in this photo submitted by Southwick Lake Management Committee Chair Richard Grannells.
Committee seeks grant for lake flow improvement By Hope E. Tremblay Staff Writer SOUTHWICK – The Board of Selectmen gave its stamp of approval this week for the Lake Management’s Canal Restoration Sub-Committee to seek grant funding. Sub-Committee Chairman Michael DeBay told the board the grant was from the state division of fish and game, which is under the Energy and Environmental Affairs Office. DeBay said the grant is twofold, offering both technical assistance and direct funds. In Southwick, the money would be used to ultimately improve lake water. “We want to try to open up the flow, which is important for overall lake quality,” said DeBay. The grant application does not guarantee approval, but it puts Southwick on the map. The whole canal should be open like in this photo, submitted by Southwick Lake See Lake Flow, Page 8 Management Committee Chair Richard Grannells.
By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – There was sound Thursday night at the City Council session, until they turned it off because of feedback, and there was fury, some directed at other council members, some at other city officials, but in the end it signified nothing. Most of the fury came out during floor discussion of motions brought by At-large Councilor David A. Flaherty who withdrew four motions related to the December 5 vote to cut the tax levy and 2014 budget by $1.7 million. Flaherty had asked the council members to allow him to withdraw motions to reconsider those levy votes because of the confusion the voting process raised. The council members were attempting to reduce the tax levy, the amount of money that must be raised through property and excise taxes. The council’s desire was to lower a tax increase, now at 3.4 percent, to less than 1 percent. The Department of Revenue was requested by city law and financial officials to review that levy reduction vote and determine if the council was acting within its scope of authority. The DOR ruled that the council has to authority to cut the levy during its June review of the budget. Any budget cut reduces the amount of money that would need to be raised through taxes. The DOR also ruled that the council does not have the right to cut the levy in November or December when it is setting shift factor that is used to determine a tax increase and how that tax burden is applied to residential property, which account for about 80 percent of the total property assessed value in the city and the commercial, industrial and personal property which comprises the remaining 20 percent of total assessed value.
Mayor Daniel M. Knapik requested a 2 percent increase, below the 2 ½ percent allowed under proposition 2 ½, but the calculations resulted in a tax increase to all classes of property of 3.4 percent. Flaherty withdrew his motions based upon a conversation he had with a DOR supervisor. “The city’s tax rate was set by the DOR last Friday, so we can vote on these motions to reconsider and rescind, but it will make no difference because we can’t change the rate,” Flaherty said. Those votes, while serving no practical purpose, would reflect poorly on the council’s decision making process which would result in greater scrutiny by the DOR, Flaherty said. Flaherty did say that he would bring out a motion in January, after the new City Council is seated, requesting that Knapik submit a free cash appropriation of $1.7 million to be applied to reduce the property tax rate. Free cash, which has yet to be certified by the DOR, is estimated at $2.8 million. Knapik has promised to refund $1,245,368 to the stabilization account. Money used to covered a shortfall in project revenue and to reduce the tax increase from 2 ½ percent to 2 percent. Flaherty’s request of another $1.7 million would empty the free cash account used to fund capital purchases and projects, such as the on-going senior center design and engineering work. The City Council did approve Flaherty’s motions for open meeting law and public record law training, as well as training in council procedures for handling motions, resolutions, orders and ordinances in light of the fact that six new Council members will be seated at the next session. Several long-time council members agreed to support the training motion as long as attendance is voluntary.
Worthington continuing withdrawal process By Peter Francis Staff Writer BOSTON – A bill filed on behalf of the town of Worthington enabling it to withdraw from the Gateway Regional School District passed the House of Representatives in an informal session earlier this week, after deliberation by the State House Education Committee over the past three months. The bill now moves to the floor of the Senate, where it will remain until after the new year. According to Ruth Kennedy, a member of the Gateway Regional School Committee, five members of the house voted for the bill unanimously and said that residents of the town have been “treated badly by the district’s administration” which “did what it wanted” by closing three schools in the district. “That was the nail in the coffin,” Kennedy said. “We in Russell didn’t think they’d close our school. Worthington was ripping (over the committee’s decision). The townspeople have been burning up.”
Kennedy said that the town of Worthington filed legislation in June after the other communities that make up the Gateway Regional School District denied the town the right to leave the district. A unanimous vote by all seven Gateway towns was needed for Worthington to withdraw. When Middlefield voted no in a town meeting, Worthington held a meeting of its own, voting to take action at the state level. The town is home to the R.H. Conwell Education Center, the former town elementary school, which reopened in 2010 as an affordable private school through the efforts of It Takes a Community, a foundation run by musician and former frontman for the rock band Staind, Aaron Lewis, who is a Worthington resident. The Gateway Regional district decided to close R.H. Conwell when faced with a $1.4 million budget deficit in 2008. “The school is doing quite well,” Kennedy said, before saying that the town will still have around 40 students in the Gateway Regional
District. The town’s junior and senior high school students will be shipped elsewhere, most likely to Hampshire Regional in Westhampton. “It’s a mess and it puts a huge financial strain on the budget.” she said of Worthington bidding the district adieu. The impact of Worthington’s departure on the Gateway Regional budget is unclear at this point, although the remaining towns in the district will certainly be asked to foot a larger chunk of the bill, and Kennedy estimates the district will have to pick up around $1 million in slack. State Rep. Stephen Kulik (D-Worthington) is familiar with the situation in the town, and believes it has been simmering for quite some time. “The townspeople want an elementary school and have a very detailed plan,” he said. “They’ve spent the last few years with alternative education, and want to reopen a public elementary school.” Kulik said that after the senate makes its
decision on the bill, it will proceed to the desk of Gov. Deval Patrick, whose call on the matter Kulik believes is anyone’s guess. “There’s no way to predict his decision at this point,” he said. “But he usually gives a lot of deference to legislation that reaches his desk from the house and senate.” Kennedy is not as optimistic. “We’ve got consequences whether it goes through or not,” she said regarding the senate’s decision in 2014. “The Governor likes school districts, so there’s no guarantee.” Kennedy said that lobbying of the senate has already begun, and that she and other town residents have been in touch with western Mass. senators Don Humason, Jr. (R-Westfield) and Stanley Rosenberg (D-Amherst) to take a close look at the bill. “They’ve done their homework. This has been a number of years in the making.” Kulik said regarding Worthington’s attempt to break away. “But each step through legislation is difficult to predict.”
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