On Brookline

Not to put too fine a point on it, but the idea of raising the property tax in Brookline through a Proposition 2.5 over-ride itself already has us screwed.  Today’s New York Times has a story in on revenue pressures on cities from the current housing downturn, saying:

“In interviews, some city and county budget officials said the direct effects of the housing downturn could have a lag time of several years when it comes to local government revenue, whose level depends on property reassessments. Some pointed to factors particular to their cities — a loss of state aid, perhaps, or legislation limiting local property tax collections — as more dire.”

Folks, your town government is banking an over-ride to cover its previous overspending and to protect it from any reductions in scale (budget cuts).  But even if you cover their incompetence, it likely won’t be enough.

If an over-ride fails (even odds at this point), what then?  Your representative town meeting approved a town hall renovation that will likely cost $20 million when its done.  There have been no significant cuts in head count or non-essential services.  And there’s no auditing function.

And our crack finance team sees the effects of macro-economic trends (on parking receipts, on the excise tax, etc.) as a “surprise”.  Town officers go out of their way to say that they don’t listen to other views on any matter.  Hell, most of those in the “executive branch” will tell you that they don’t even read the local newspaper (and/or this site).  So it’s folly to think that the incurious town hall team can lead us out of the coming difficulties.

Maybe this will be the cataclysm that will convince people we need a stronger form of government (mayor/council) in Brookline.