Swampscott: The most beautiful mismanaged town in MA!

[jan0105]

Originally Posted by Parsec

I get the impression at least in Sudbury that most people agree with me. Like I said earlier, many people with families either can't attend or can't afford to hire a babysitter to attend. People with night shifts can't attend either.

Are there really that many people in Sudbury who can't afford a sitter for two-three hours? I find that hard to believe. Also can't imagine there are that many third-shifters.

Hingham also uses the town meeting system. It's antiquated and inefficient but I love it.

[traffic_lover]

*In general* I think most ppl are too apathetic for open town meeting to work anymore. On paper sure I want to have my vote heard. But after getting up at 5am, getting home at 630pm to a 2yr old who wants to play & hang out....I'm not going to sit in a high school auditorium for 3 hrs. Call me a red commie

[Parsec]

Originally Posted by jan0105

Are there really that many people in Sudbury who can't afford a sitter for two-three hours? I find that hard to believe. Also can't imagine there are that many third-shifters.

Hingham also uses the town meeting system. It's antiquated and inefficient but I love it.

I meant in general, not specific to Sudbury. There are many third shifters live in towns with open town meeting. I think the cost of a sitter is still a deterrent to voting even for affluent families. I personally would not pay $60/night to attend town meeting, so my wife always stays home. My point was that we shouldn't have to pay for a sitter to attend, regardless of whether we can afford it or not.

Originally Posted by traffic_lover

*In general* I think most ppl are too apathetic for open town meeting to work anymore. On paper sure I want to have my vote heard. But after getting up at 5am, getting home at 630pm to a 2yr old who wants to play & hang out....I'm not going to sit in a high school auditorium for 3 hrs. Call me a red commie

I hear you. This is another reason why the elderly are over-represented at these meetings. They can sit around all day and take a nap before attending the meeting at night. Wayland was the first town in MA to institute electronic voting. Public voting sometimes causes a hostile environment as screaming matches escalate. Private electronic voting will bring back civility for many towns. You still need to be present to vote, but I think it's a good first step as other communities look to change the way these meetings are conducted.

[Parsec]

Originally Posted by NS-GR

I have been at Swampscott for 4 years. We moved there because it is such a beautiful town. I cannot understand why the town is so terribly managed.
In these four years, I saw many teachers quit…the superintendent changed sometime in 2013. The principal just resigned after allegations of “inappropriate conduct on school computers” and after a visit to his home by Beverly and State police!
Most of the playgrounds of the town are terrible…rusty old metal slides and swings.
The property tax rate is one of the highest rates in the State. It was $18.75 per $1000 in assessed value. Then, the genius guys of Swampscott decreased it to $17.15, but increased the assessments by a lot (in many cases more than $100,000)… and now they are going to increase the tax rate again!
Now, I cannot wait to move out, but I also thought to mention these things in the forum, so people are aware.
Also, I wonder how this can change? I mean Swampscott is really such a beautiful town and it is such a pity to see this happening.

Now that we've gotten the fact that most towns are mismanaged out of the way, let's get back on the topic of Swampscott specifically. The part I bolded above is actually a pretty genius idea. I wonder how many other towns have done something similar to get around the percentage limitations of Prop 2 1/2 to increase the overall tax levy.

[jan0105]

Originally Posted by Parsec

I meant in general, not specific to Sudbury. There are many third shifters live in towns with open town meeting. I think the cost of a sitter is still a deterrent to voting even for affluent families. I personally would not pay $60/night to attend town meeting, so my wife always stays home. My point was that we shouldn't have to pay for a sitter to attend, regardless of whether we can afford it or not.
.

Oh, I misunderstood. I do agree with that.

[robr2]

Originally Posted by Parsec

Now that we've gotten the fact that most towns are mismanaged out of the way, let's get back on the topic of Swampscott specifically. The part I bolded above is actually a pretty genius idea. I wonder how many other towns have done something similar to get around the percentage limitations of Prop 2 1/2 to increase the overall tax levy.

Prop 2-1/2 doesn't prevent the city or town from raising anyone's property taxes by more that 2.5%. It prevents overall revenue from property taxes from growing by more than 2.5% (less new construction). I've had my taxes go up by almost 5% even with a 5% drop in assessed value (2010).

It's a complicated process to get the numbers to work especially with the required assessments, anticipated budget needs, new construction, balancing residential vs. commercial, property becoming non-profit, et al.