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Ten Reasons to Vote "No"
On N. Andover's $1.6M Override
Ted Tripp
(06/05/07)
 1. Next year’s town budget
will be $74 million, up a robust 4.6% from this year.
That’s $2,470 for every man, woman and child in
North Andover and $6,730 for every household. Shouldn’t
that be more than enough money to run a town like ours?
2. The average single family property tax bill in North
Andover is currently $5,610, which is 41% higher than the
state average of $3,979. Taxes have increased 51% just
since the year 2000. Compar-able tax bills are:
Georgetown - $3,986; Middleton - $5,179; Haver-hill -
$3,211. Of nearby communities, only Andover and Boxford
have higher tax bills than ours.
3. North Andover has had 38 tax override questions on the
ballot since 1986. The four general over-rides previously
passed now take $7 million more out of the pockets of our
taxpayers every year.
4. Next year the schools have been given a generous 7.4%
increase in their budget while the municipal side has had
to settle for a much more modest 3.7% increase. And that’s
without an override. But the schools want an astounding
15% increase in their budget for additional personnel.
5. The school problems can be traced back to the School
Committee signing a disastrous and unaf-fordable teachers
contract in 2005 that led to the layoffs of dozens of
teachers. Current School Committee Chairman Bill Kelly
was the deci-ding vote to approve that contract. Now, as
the leading proponent of the override, he wants to punish
the taxpayers because of his own poor judgement.
6. Last fall the School Committee finally pulled the plug
on the Foster Farm school. But this was only after it
wasted $1 million of your tax money for the architectural
design. In 1998 the schools wasted an additional $1.9
million of your taxes to acquire the Foster Farm land
that now sits idle. Sensible management and honest
enrollment projections would have prevented this waste of
$2.9 million of your hard-earned money.
7. Last year the schools ran up a $500,000 deficit in the
school lunch program. Most of that amount is being
covered this year by free cash generated from the
municipal side of town government. Let’s see …
how many teachers would that support, nine? … ten?
… eleven?
8. The schools just announced the hiring of a new
superintendent for $180,000 plus additional benefits, one
of the most expensive superintendent packages in the
state for towns similar to ours. Why? Because the School
Committee had no choice. It had botched earlier
opportunities to hire more reasonably priced and
well-qualified candidates.
9. Health insurance payments for town employees are still
far above what the private sector offers. The town pays
85% to 88% of employee health insurance premiums. The
Fi-nance Committee estimates it costs the town on average
$12,500 in benefits for each and every em-ployee.
10. The latest number for the inflation rate is 2.7%. The
consumer price index for the Northeast has only increased
2.2% over the past year. Social Security payments are
only increasing 3.3% in 2007. The 4.6% increase in the
town’s budget is more than enough to run this town
without an override.
11. Bonus reason: When it comes to government, “MORE
IS NEVER ENOUGH!”
Taxpayers United for Fiscal Responsibility (TUFR) -
262 Boston St., North Andover, MA 01845
978-725-6509
*Send your questions comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com
The June 2007 Edition of
the Valley Patriot
The Valley Patriot is a Monthly
Publication.
All Contents (C) 2007, Valley Patriot, Inc.
We publish 13,000 newspapers and distribute in Andover,
North Andover,
Methuen, Haverhill, Chelmsford, Georgetown, Groveland,
Boxford, Amesbury, Newburyport
Lawrence, Dracut, Tewksbury, Merrimack, Hampton &
Salisbury Beach, and Lowell.
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