Local Government

Daily Buzz | Ways & Means Presents Fox Hill Financing Options to School Committee

Also, BPS equity audit report to be published soon

Nicci Kadilak

— 6 min read
Daily Buzz | Ways & Means Presents Fox Hill Financing Options to School Committee

Good Morning, Burlington!

There will be a one-day delay in trash collection due to the Monday holiday this week. Don’t put out your barrels until tomorrow!

As always, there’s lots to talk about from last night’s School Committee meeting, so let’s get right into it.

Ways & Means Presents Fox Hill Financing Options

John Iler from the Ways & Means (Finance) Committee presented at School Committee last night about the different options for financing upcoming capital projects, including the proposed new Fox Hill School. John’s disclaimer: This was not an official W&M presentation, but was informed by many of the conversations that have been ongoing in town.

Burlington’s overall bonding is currently about $100,000,000—this includes previous projects such as Fire Station #2 for $8.6 million in 2019 and Memorial School at (are you ready for this?) $26.5 million in 2011. (For a real laugh: The original cost of Fox Hill originally in 1967 was $1.2 million.)

In the past, our annual debt service has fit into the budget and we haven’t had to seek additional funding. But due to increased construction costs we have the potential right now to more than double our annual debt servicing (assuming the town builds a new police station and a new Fox Hill Elementary School)—leading to a tax increase that is more than twice as large as residents are used to—which is why these conversations are different.

Historically, Burlington has not taxed up to the maximum allowed. Also, Iler noted, historically, Burlington is behind many other communities in terms of investment in infrastructure. But the impending capital projects will need some attention from the public one way or another. Here are some different options for funding these large capital projects:

  • Proposition 2 1/2 Override:

    • This is a permanent increase to the tax levy limit, or the percentage of taxes the town is allowed to collect.

    • A 2/3 vote from the Select Board is required to put it on the ballot, and it must pass at the election with a majority town vote.

    • Burlington has never done one, but 86% of communities have; this is due to many factors, but chief among them is the large commercial tax base, which contributes a lot to our ability to manage projects without an override, and the fact that we haven’t made the investments in infrastructure that other neighboring towns have.

  • Debt Exclusion:

    • This is an increase to the tax levy just for the life of the project.

    • This requires 2/3 of the Select Board to vote to put it on the ballot; it also requires 2/3 of Town Meeting votes (since it involves borrowing) and a majority vote by the town.

    • Items must be listed separately on the ballot. (In the case of the Fox Hill project, this is required whether it’s funded via 2 1/2 override or debt exclusion, due to MSBA requirements.)

    • Burlington has attempted two debt exclusions in the past; both were for school things, and both failed.

  • Use excess levy capacity (this is the only option if an attempt at the above fails):

    • This can be done without further approval from the town, given that it falls within our levy capacity.

    • History suggests the levy limit is increasing around 3.5% per year. But Burlington’s levy grows by an average of 4.8% each year. That means we will eventually hit a ceiling (in as little as six years, even without funding these projects) where the amount of excess levy capacity goes to zero and we need a proposition 2 1/2 override (meaning a town-wide vote) just to pass the operating budget.

Final words:

  • Capital projects today are much more expensive—and more difficult to fit into our levy capacity—than they have been in the past.
  • Increases in the tax levy will affect both residents and businesses; businesses provide 62% of our tax revenue.
  • The town might also choose to combine different options and can dip into excess levy capacity in the event of a discrepancy between an initial quote and the final project cost.
  • The initiation of most of these projects will likely cascade, so any levy increase could occur gradually. But projects are typically bonded out for 25 years, and so they will eventually all be compounded together.

Also at the School Committee:

  • The long-awaited Equity Audit is complete and will soon be posted on the district’s website. There was not a complete conversation about this at the School Committee meeting; this will be facilitated once the public and the School Committee have had time to digest the report. Some preliminary notes:

    • Dr. Conti assured the public that he and Dr. Chen haven’t forgotten about the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion position; they will be creating one that is aligned with the audit’s recommendations along the axes of cultural and racial proficiency, language, and neurodiversity and post it as soon as possible.

    • The district hopes to use the equity audit to inform the math curriculum alignments Dr. Chen has been working on (see below) and later use this alignment as a template and springboard to aligning other curricula.

    • According to Dr. Conti, “The amount of work we have ahead is significant, but I’m looking forward to continuing to make progress in this area.”

    • School Committee Chair, Martha Simon, states that she looks forward to providing culturally proficient resources and strategies, including workshops and trainings, for BPS staff and School Committee members.

  • Assistant Superintendent Dr. Chen gave a curriculum update with many features that I’m hoping to geek out on soon. Highlights are:

    • The district does not, contrary to a recent report from the Globe, use a Fountas & Pinnell curriculum—this curriculum and the style of teaching known as “balanced literacy” has come under scrutiny lately following in part the Sold A Story podcast. Dr. Chen reassured the community we haven’t used this curriculum in at least 20 years and that we use a phonics-based reading curriculum.

    • Dr. Chen and a collection of Burlington educators continue working on vertically aligning the district’s math curriculum and implementing more of what’s called Universal Design for Learning, which provides greater access to curriculum for all students via multiple entry points.

  • Highlights from the ongoing review of the district’s policy manual:

    • The district will continue allowing families of students born during the month of September to provide a written appeal for entry to kindergarten. (The cutoff date is August 31.)

    • The district needs and will be pursuing a social media policy; they’ll also be requesting that the IT department review the IT policies to ensure they’re necessary and appropriate.

    • The district has a contract with the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) providing that they will maintain the policy manual moving forward.

  • School Committee ended on a somber note, taking public participation out of order to hear from community member, Jaimee Greitzer. Greitzer expressed her disappointment that neither the district nor individual schools sent communications regarding the events in Israel over the last week, as they have for previous national and world events. Dr. Conti apologized and stated that the district had concentrated their response on safety but that many community members have reached out with resources to support our Jewish students and their families, which he will share as soon as he is able.

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Sports and Activities

Both the varsity and junior varsity field hockey teams shut out their opponents from Woburn yesterday with 7-0 and 4-0 wins. Our varsity volleyball team also won against Woburn by a score of 3-0. Freshman and JV teams lost 1-2 and 0-2, respectively. The JV Blue soccer team also beat Woburn, 2-0. Let’s hope some of yesterday’s energy translates into today!

Today our soccer teams take on Woburn, with boys hosting at MSMS at 4:15 and girls traveling (JV at 4:15, varsity at 4:30). The Freshman football team plays at Arlington Middle School at 4:15, and the golf team plays Wilmington at 3:30 at the Hillview Golf Course in North Reading.

That’s all for today. See you tomorrow!

Nicci

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