Any towns in Eastern Mass that do not hurt financially too much? (Boston: lease, health insurance)

[vogue]

Hi,

We are renting in Belmont and looking to buy in next couple of months (for family reasons). We have school age kid (kindergarten) and have noticed that many towns, including our own are, struggling (big time) with future budgets projections and school budgets. Belmont might end up broke in the next couple of years, as many projects are looming, but many residents are very upset about already high taxes and constant need to prop-overrides or delayed street and town maintenance in order to survive. School cuts are inevitable even in Belmont.
Since taxes and RE are quite high around here we might need to buy somewhere else.

One of my concerns would be not to buy into an area where financial health of the town is quite bad and/or town government is clueless about running town efficiently.

Are any towns in Eastern Mass run well and without huge budget shortfalls?

I do understand that we have bad economy but some towns do not have it together regardless. I want to avoid such places.

Our price range up to 450K (condo or single home--single home preferred) and commutable to Harvard Sq for job. Schools, low crime, family friendly area. We would like it to be somewhat walkable too. We are looking to the west, and to North Shore and South Shore, and are still unsure where to go. Oh, and if it helps I am foreign-born (from Europe) and hubby is an American and we have no relatives in this state.

I heard about Watertown, Acton, Arlington, Melrose, Hamilton and Wenham, Winchester, Canton budget woes. I am trying to follow local papers on many towns, but I might miss things. It is so hard to live in MA right now. I do not want to stick our family with area where taxes will only escalate and services will diminish, although I am trying to be an optimist.


We would like a place to call home--decent and stable place where common sense prevails and one can have nice, quiet life with good neighbors and good schools.

Any input is appreciated.

[Beachcomber4]

You would really need a crystal ball to project that. Some towns that were fiscally healthy 2 years ago are struggling and will continue to struggle without some sort of major economic turn around. Towns that had "rainy day funds" are spending them and it seems that some towns that didn't have received state funds to prevent further despair.

One major issue that towns are crying out for assistance is in special education costs. Towns with good school systems are seeing an influx of families who know that the town has historically been able to provide an excellent education for their children. (Just read some posts on here- parents actively seek out these systems and are met with administrators who won't comment without a signed lease agreement or P&S) Even with the circuit breaker law, towns are being stretched to the limit. One child with an out of district placement can cost a school system $100K or more. It is very difficult to plan for something like that and can be crippling to a school system that already is cutting it close. Mega snow storms also cause budget issues. Some towns had already used all of their snow removal money after the second storm of this year. With the long, drawn out storms of recent weeks, plow operators are logging many billable hours. Add to that negotiated raises, increases in health insurance costs and it's a recipe for financially healthy one year to in trouble the next.

[vogue]

Thanks for your input. It is hard to project. I agree. I was just hoping to hear from other people in other towns what their experiences are.
Are some towns weathering this storm better than some others, and which towns might be in less trouble than others in the long run?
Lot of well to do people from Belmont are "escaping" to Lincoln and Lexington and some to Concord.
I love Lexington e.g. and know it is well run, and so is Concord, but they both might be out of our price range.
I wanted to hear about towns that are middle to upper middle class. Which town might be a good buy for next 10-15 years? (Where schools and services will not suffer terribly in the long run.)
Reading? Melrose? Wakefield? Andover? Scituate? Norwell? Easton? Burlington? Waltham? Watertown? Arlington?


Thanks again.

[gf2020]

In the Route 128 area north of Boston; Reading, Lynnfield and Danvers all have a reputation as well run communities.

[Beachcomber4]

I'm not sure how towns will fare in the long run but here's some information on the over $1 million in cuts to school budgets in these 2 towns:

Norwell Schools may request $1.3 million for budget gaps - Norwell, MA - Norwell Mariner

Scituate school budget cuts nearly $1.6 million - Scituate, MA - Scituate Mariner

[vogue]

Thank you for this info. Every bit helps since I have never lived anywhere else but Cambridge and Belmont. We have no relatives that could help with info, and most friends are all set in well to do towns and/or moved away to greener pastures.

Any kind reply is appreciated.

[Beachcomber4]

No problem. The wickedlocal.com website features links to articles on specific towns. I am not sure if all the towns you are looking in are listed but it is a good start. There is always mention of budget issues, contract negotiations, police reports etc. that can help you get a feel for what is going on in that town. Good luck.

[ScituateAl]

Here in Scituate, I can say that our $400k-ish house is about $3200 in taxes - but you need to bring your trash to the transfer station each week and pay about $75/yr for a stick and use special bags for $2 for large 30-gallon bags, your kids will likely need a $200/hr bus pass, and beach stickers are like $30 for the season. As far as I have ever seen, what you pay in taxes depends a lot on the relative price of your house to everyone else. Here in Scituate, $400k is on the cheaper side and I think we get a pretty good deal.

Yeah, we're facing a shortfall and school offerings may be more limited (and expensive) than the past, but town gov't, administrators, school admins, PTOs, etc.. all seem to do a pretty good job. Hey, look, we have 4 elementary schools and our first grader has a class of 17 or so kids. I cannot complain. 1-2 years ago they district went all out and got 1-2 reading AND math specialists for each of the schools...so even if we have cuts, at least we we were staring out.

Scituate, like lots of places has a mix of families and older folks and there's a pretty good spending balance...we did build a new elementary school a few years back, but they failed to pass funding to actually run it for a year, lol. We have overrides, but are rare. Folks know their homes are higher in value due to the schools and, if hit hard, I would expect the townspeople to come together to do what they can for the schools.

[professorsenator]

A few things to look for:
1. Does the town have a history of approving Prop. 2 1/2 tax overrides? You want this, because it probably means the town is willing to pay the money necessary for good schools. Towns that rarely or never approve overrides often let their schools (and roads, services, etc.) suffer.
2. Be wary of towns with lots of retirees. Old folks tend to oppose tax hikes to pay for better schools (these people are on fixed incomes and don't have young kids in school). What's more, they have a high rate of voter turnout and thus often mobilize against Prop. 2 1/2 overrides.
3. Speaking generally, the places where schools are funded the best are upper middle class suburbs with parents of high educational attainment. Look at the education level of the town. Again, speaking broadly, the higher the education profile of the community, the more likely it will value and support its schools.

[Beachcomber4]

Professenator- great advice as always.

The only caveat to that is towns that previously passed Prop 2 1/2 overrides are weary. They aren't being passed as easily. The Boston Globe had a good article today on the crippling effect of sweetheart health insurance coverage for municipal employees.

A school system that I worked for a number of years ago paid 85% of health insurance costs- even for teacher's aides who did lunchroom duty and worked less than 30 hours per week. As you can imagine those jobs went to "connected" residents. A thankless job for sure but when you figure in the health insurance payments, these women made a nice paycheck.

Those who work in the private sector are feeling the pinch and expect those in the public sector to do the same. I cannot say I completely agree as I know that historically, the private sector pays better but when contractual raises and health insurance costs jeopardize the quality of education and overall vitality of a town, I too feel some changes and concessions need to be made.