No Taxes for Building
If you saw last Wednesday’s Budget & Finance Committee meeting, you probably saw the very exciting news that the City will not be required to increase taxes to fund the upgrade to the Oliver School, the reconstruction of the Leahy School, and the construction of the new Police Station.
The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), signed into law in March 2021, provides $350 billion in relief to states and local governments to combat the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In ARPA the benefits for the City of Lawrence is the formula applied under one of the four broad categories “revenue losses” as Chief Administrator and Finance Officer (CAFO) Mark Ianello explained in Wednesday’s meeting.
An explanation, that took me a while to understand, is that the revenue loss computation requires Lawrence to calculate how much funding can be used to provide government services. The calculated revenue loss is not to be considered a direct replacement of lost revenue but rather must be used to provide government services to the extent of the calculated revenue loss. Taking into account the gas explosions and the covid 2019 year, it kind of benefitted Lawrence (as bad as that sounds).
So, during the Budget & Finance meeting, CAFO Ianello stated that he would request the council place the ARPA money into this year’s budget as revenue loss income, not spend it, and at the end of the fiscal year (June 30, 2022), place that money into free cash. In October, the free cash would be certified – as one of the highest free cash this city has ever had.
Even Council President Marc Laplante showed his enthusiasm at the end of the presentation, understanding the magnitude of the benefit it represents for the city.
Next year, when the city would have to get the Leahy loan (through selling bonds), the budget would be submitted with a $2.5 million shortfall because of the debt service but would be able to pay the debt service (debt still owed from prior projects like the high school and other repairs) out of free cash therefor having a budget to operate and no taxes for these three projects.
Mark Ianello stated that “about 7 to 8 years, which is the time when the debt service would fall” (in other words the city would pay the debt service out). What many do know is that taxes are necessary to pay for union contract increases, they always are necessary, unless the city layoffs. We know layoffs are not occurring anytime soon, so we may need a 2.5% tax increase or less in the fiscal year 2023 budget.
We will have to wait and see. But what you won’t get is that 2.5% override that previous interim Mayor Kendrys Vasquez was advocating for in last November’s election. You won’t get it because the people voted against it, but more importantly because it was not necessary. Now we all know that Kendrys did not know what he was doing, or did he?
This is a victory. A victory for the students, educators, mayor, schools, superintendent, the city, councilors, and elected school board.
The word is that Governor Charlie Baker has over $2 billion in ARPA funds still to distribute. The question will be that if Lawrence receives additional ARPA funds, can the city still use those funds unrestricted under the current calculations or formula, or will the city be required to start a new calculation of revenue losses?
The CAFO better get educated now, so the city could save time and effort, because for quite some time some people of the mayor’s team, and in particular Representative Frank Moran have been informing the city of these ARPA funds. I guess Frank was just waiting on the locals to catch up. Frank Bonet even wrote about it in one of our previous editions.
A Black transgender Justice
This page is usually dedicated to local issues because this city keeps me busy enough and discussing national news could result in disagreements and misunderstandings that lead to nowhere.
But, I read an article published by The Daily Signal, an online publication that I found funny because of the high possibility of becoming a reality.
There’s a case in the news with Lia Thomas, a student at Penn University who was a champion swimmer in the male swimming team. She now changed her gender and is making a killing competing against women at school.
Her teammates have complained to no avail that her physical abilities are superior but the school sides with the law. Transgender people should be respected.
President Joe Biden is going to nominate a Black woman for the Supreme Court but what would happen if the best-qualified woman is transgender? Would the public react like the case of Lia Thomas and conform?
That is very important to the president and I wonder what he would do if the opportunity presented in this case.
Let me show you a snippet of what Mario Díaz wrote for the Daily Signal. He is the general counsel of Concerned Women of America.
“At least theoretically, the first black woman Supreme Court justice could be a biological male who self-identifies as a woman. The move would go right along with current White House practice.
“Recall that the Biden administration celebrated with great pride the appointment of Dr. Rachel Levine, a biological male who transitioned in order to appear as a woman, as the ‘first female four-star admiral of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.’”
Just think of the reaction from everyone who happens to be campaigning for the Black female candidate of their choice if that comes to pass.
Sometimes is fun watching what goes on in Washington, D.C.
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