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Stanley Gawle

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JERREY ROBERTS

Andrew Churchill speaks Tuesday during a forum on Amherst's Proposition 21/2 override at Town Hall.

AMHERST - Whether Amherst remains a community committed to protecting programs and services or increasingly becomes one where it costs too much for some homeowners to live is a central question that next week's Proposition 2½ override will answer.

For supporters of this year's $1.68 million override, voters already sent a message in the defeat of a 2007 override question that the municipal budget needed to be brought under control and the structural deficit needed to be eliminated.

"The good news is that has now been done," Andy Churchill, a representative of Yes for Amherst, said at an override forum Tuesday night. He pointed to reduced town and school staffing, the closing of one of the town's outdoor swimming pools and the shuttering of an elementary school.

Town officials, Churchill said, have also lived up to objectives included in a report from the Facilitation for Community Choices that recommended finding efficiencies and new sources of revenue before pursuing another override.

"We've made huge sacrifices, cutting more than $7 million in expenses over the last two years," Churchill said.

For opponents of the override, which could add up to $264 more to the property tax bill for an average homeowner, not enough has yet been done to control costs.

Stan Gawle, spokesman for Amherst Taxpayers for Responsible Change, argued that the town has been irresponsible in its use of money and needs to continue to tighten its belt.

Gawle said Amherst already has one of the highest tax bills in the county, averaging $7,500 when water and sewer fees are included, and any additional burden would disproportionately affect those on fixed incomes and the elderly.

"More taxes could equal 'for sale' signs in front of their houses," Gawle said.

Gawle and Churchill were speakers at Tuesday's informational forum on the March 23 override, sponsored by the Daily Hampshire Gazette and Amherst Bulletin, as well as Amherst Community TV. The panelists were given questions submitted by readers in advance, as well as from 50 people gathered in the Town Room at Town Hall.

While Gawle said he believes lower-income people will suffer most from a successful override, Churchill said Amherst has voted for the maximum amount of state tax exemptions and work-off programs for senior citizens. In addition, many of the services the override will support are aimed at these groups, such as subsidies for recreational activities, programs at the Senior Center and various classes at the schools.

"I'm sympathetic to that concern, but I think people choose to live in Amherst because of our quality of life," Churchill said.

Churchill said local property taxes have to make up for the slack at the federal and state levels. He estimated the average Amherst homeowner actually paid $600 less in taxes in 2009 than in 2000.

An override, Churchill said, is not a blank check for government, but is rather a choice between a $2.5 million cut, items already removed from the budget that won't be restored, or an even larger $4.2 million cut, losing 25 more positions at the schools on top of the 51 eliminated last year.

"It's not 2007 anymore. A lot has changed since then, and our response has to reflect that," Churchill said.

Instead of an override, though, Gawle suggested a combination of rescinding $155,000 to dredge Puffer's Pond and install toilets at War Memorial Pool, reducing next year's capital spending by $300,000 and having the Jones Library use a portion of a recent bequest.

Gawle noted that Amherst used $2.15 million in reserves in the middle part of the decade even as state aid was increasing by $4.66 million. Even though critical of this use of reserves, Gawle said now is the time to use this money, as it could be replenished by limiting cost-of-living adjustments for employees over the next two years.

"If an override doesn't pass, what will happen, most likely, is the town will use reserves," Gawle said.

Churchill, though, said the use of reserves got the town into the financial difficulties it is now facing.

"If you take money out of your savings account to pay for your mortgage, that money's not there the next year to pay for the mortgage," Churchill said.

Both Gawle and Churchill said they appreciated salary givebacks by town employees,

Gawle said it is time to ratchet down what is being paid administrators and department heads. "The salaries are too high for administrators," Gawle said.

But this week's decision by the teachers union for each teacher to give up about $1,000 each in salary if the override passes was a gimmick, Gawle said.

Churchill described this as a wonderful cut of $350,000 from the amount needed in the override.

"I'm extremely grateful to the teachers for their contribution," Churchill said.

Gawle cited the recent departure of the school superintendent and the vacant middle school principal position as reasons that this is not the time for an override.

"Town residents need to be confident that any additional funding will be spent directly on improving the educational experience of our children," Gawle said.

Churchill said larger class sizes at the schools, more potholes on roads and fewer services at the Jones Library and its branches loom if the override fails.

"We're talking about the library losing certification, we're talking about the library losing interlibrary loan," Churchill said.

Gawle said he understands the need for tax support for libraries, but town officials could have earmarked revenue from new meals and lodging taxes for this purpose.

"The Friends could write a check to the town that goes to the general fund," Gawle said.

Using the bequest, though, is not an option because state certification depends on certain level of local funding.

"The concern with both the endowment and bequest and the reserve funds in the town (is), you don't want to use one-time funds to support ongoing costs," Churchill said.

Owners of local businesses might be affected if the override loses, because the Amherst brand then becomes damaged, Churchill said.

Gawle countered that business owners would be negatively affected by passage because there will be less disposable income.

If the override is defeated, Gawle said he doesn't expect Amherst to be damaged in any meaningful way.

"I don't think this makes a big change," Gawle said.

In fact, he argues that administrators will find money and will manipulate accounts to make sure this is the case.

But Churchill said the town is already feeling the impacts from the override defeat three years ago.

"I think it will be a much different place, and I don't think it's a place we ought to go," Churchill said.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.