Q&A for Selectman Liaison to School Committee - Jim Pollard
What is your role as the liaison to the School Committee?
I have been a selectman since 2001 and have served as the liaison to various Town committees. As a liaison, I am responsible for establishing and maintaining communication and a mutual understanding of current and future issues between the two groups.
What are the key issues facing Scituate?
The major issues we face in Town are financial. The Town has and will continue to face a fiscal squeeze as our underlying costs grow faster than our revenues and local aid. The financial crunch has been created by a series of events, including: (1) several consecutive years of declining local aid from the State and 2 years of double digit increases for national health care costs, which are quickly spiraling out of control.
Last year’s increase in State aid and slight increase in Scituate Town revenues had little impact and will be insufficient to maintain the level of vital Town services we need.
In my view, Scituate can not continue to rely on real estate taxes, fees and other charges to balance future budgets. We need one or all of the following changes to occur at the State level:
· A steady increase in the share of tax revenues from the State;
· An increase in Chapter 70 Educational funding; and
· Greater authority to manage health care and retirement costs.
Do the selectman feel the current Town budget is sufficient to cover the current needs of the schools and town offices?
This year’s budget will be a challenge. Since we can’t rely on the State, Scituate residents may have to decide what is in the best interest of our Town. There are a few options available outside the normal budget process, such as operational and debt exclusion overrides that allow the town to raise taxes over the legal limit set by Proposition 2 ½ .
The Schools, consistently praised for providing an excellent education for the children in Town, are desperately seeking additional financial resources to move forward. The Town continues to discuss projects such as a Senior/Community Center and new Fire Stations and the associated costs to operate them. I’m convinced this year we will once again need to ask Town residents to decide (1) What they want from our Town Government and School system and (2) Are they willing to financially support it?
Many communities, both locally and throughout the State, are facing the same financial challenges as we are here in Scituate. During the next few months, I look forward to working with other elected officials, town employees and citizens volunteering their expertise and support in moving Scituate ahead.
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1 comment:
Is there a plan to make the new senior/community center a true community center? If so what is the plan? How much will it cost? Will
the rec.dept. move to that location?
The costs associated with the new senior center alone look underestimated, has an independant party looked into the operating costs (i'm sorry but a building that is 3 times bigger than the current location must need a bigger operating budget than proposed). Have the selectmen looked into funding the schools and senior center by selling off other town assets, like the money losing golf course?
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