At the request of the Chairman of the Board of Selectmen, Allen Phillips, I will be dedicating some of my upcoming Town Administrator blog entries to address some 'Frequently Asked Questions' or a West Boylston FAQ for lack of a better name. The idea for this actually came from a resident of the Town, Hilary Laraba, who thought that a report such as this may help the citizens stay informed on certain pressing issues in anticipation of the annual Town Meeting scheduled on May 19th. Hilary contributed to this project further by even suggesting some of the topics
that should be considered, including jail mitigation, the reservoir, the Tivnan Drive Project and Pay As You Throw trash just to name a few. The first issue I will address will be the issue that Hilary had listed first in her email to me and one that I have a strong feeling about - regionalization and shared services.
Anybody who has heard my budget discussions in the last several years know that I have long said that the current system of funding municipalities in Massachusetts is unsustainable due to the constraints of Proposition 2 ½, the rising costs of health insurance and other employee benefits costs, and the regressive nature of the property tax. Municipalities in Massachusetts need to find different ways of 'doing what needs to be done.' Looking to the state for additional municipal assistance as the answer to our collective prayers is also not probable, considering the significant budget deficit the Commonwealth is facing. What other options can we look towards to help our municipal finances become more stable and sustainable?
In other states, county government provides many functions currently provided by cities and towns in Massachusetts. Counties provide everything from senior services, to libraries, to police coverage to fire services. In Massachusetts, however, county government never really provided these services and now that county government has been dissolved, the possibilities to reinvent that government to provide regional services are certainly lost at this point. Instead, municipalities are left to fend for themselves and to establish their own regional relationships as they see fit.
Regionalization allows communities to share administrative and program costs between two or more communities in order to increase or maintain the level of services within the participating communities. I often wondered why every community needed its own police department, its own fire department and its own library. I find it hard to believe that this system will exist 15-20 years from now as municipalities struggle every year to provide even basic services to its residents. One of the areas where Massachusetts has some success with regionalization is with regional school districts. Regional school districts allow communities to share costs and to provide services they could not provide if they were acting on their own.
So, if regionalization or sharing services is a way to share costs and provide additional services to our citizens, why are communities not doing more of it? Simply put, it is not a simple process. Most intermunicipal agreements require Town Meeting approval and the parochial nature of most New England towns often kill any chance of success in regionalization. The state can be helpful in this process in two ways. First, they could remove some of the barriers to make regionalization easier for communities to enter into. Second, the state should look at providing financial incentives to communities to regionalize services.
In recent years, West Boylston attempted to create a regional dispatch center, regional animal control, and regional assessing to name a few. All efforts proved fruitless. A couple of years ago, West Boylston hosted a regional forum attended my many municipalities as well as Senators and Representatives to talk about ways to improve our collaboration. Up until now, West Boylston may not have been successful but we are not giving up yet. There are two new efforts that we are working on that should be discussed; our new Shared Services Committee and the Town's membership in MORE (Municipalities Organized for Regional Effectiveness).
In response to one of the Town's goals for 2008, I created the Shared Services Committee late last year. The committee's membership is full and they have now held 3 meetings since their organizational meeting this past winter. They are seeking a methodology and process to help encourage shared services with other municipalities. I am encouraged by their work thus far and I am impressed with the caliber of the residents who have stepped forward to join in this effort. All citizens of West Boylston should take an active interest in their work and seek to aid in their effort wherever possible.
Our participation in MORE is just the latest effort to try and increase regionalization. MORE is a collection of Town Administrators and Town Managers in the greater Worcester area who have come together to work collectively, purchase goods and services collectively and to share resources and knowledge with each other. Indeed, as your Town Administrator, I do more than just attend meetings as I have been chosen as an officer of the organization and am committed to its success. Next fiscal year should be a pivotal year for MORE and I am hopeful that our participation with this group will bear fruit for the Town.
Leon A. Gaumond Jr.
Town Administrator
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