Should we have more accountants on the city council and staff?
I hold what I hope is the singular distinction of having watched all 8 1/2 hours of the various city council debates on NewTV. Before you judge me on my lack of hobbies, I’d like to point out that I mostly had the videos on in the background while cooking dinner or other mindless tasks over the past month or so. In order to save you some time (you’ll thank me later), I had the following takeaways:
1. By and large the candidates are in agreement that we need to have excellent schools, more affordable housing, better roads and traffic management, lively walkable villages, and environmental activism.
2. More than a few of the candidates would like to slow down a little (or a lot) on development while still finding ways to provide more affordable housing, but the majority are full-steam ahead on development.
3. Everyone wants to address climate change, but some seem to want anything and everything done now, and some appear to be mostly giving it lip service because it’s popular in Newton.
4. IMO, there is a glaring lack of emphasis on analyzing the costs and benefits of all these initiatives, hence my question of whether or not we need more accountants and analysts on the city council who will force the issue and analytically skilled staff who can follow up when they do.
The city council seems to be dominated by lawyers, non-profit executives, architects, community activists, and some business people, all of whom bring a lot ideas, energy and expertise to the table. The staff that they rely on for guidance mostly seem to be legal staff, urban planners, and occasional outside consultants, who are very competent but not skilled in financial analysis. Would the city council benefit from having more accountants and analysts who will ask the hard questions in both elected and staff positions? Should they be required to do cost/benefit analyses on new ordinances? Should they be required to review past ordinances periodically to see what is working and what is not? Should they do periodic benchmarking with other cities and towns on the budget and other initiatives? Are there ways to make the city government and city council more efficient?
Excellent point.
Great idea!
Maybe that would also help us address the $1.4Billion unfunded liability for post retirement benefits for city employees and elected officials….
Chris Markiewicz, Ward Councilor from Ward 4, is a CPA and is retired from a career implementing financial systems for Fortune 100 companies, water and electric utilities, and federal and state governments. He asks excellent questions, and is also a tremendous resource to the rest of us.
Dyscalculia is pervasive at the policy-making level and is one of the biggest obstacles to the success of local government. I strongly agree with Laurie’s suggestions.
Whoops, I just looked up dyscalculia – I thought it referred to general lack of mathematical aptitude, but some definitions say that it’s a genuine disability. Sorry, please replace with “arithmetical ineptitude.”
@Mike, I agree it’s a common problem in all levels of government. But elected officials don’t have to be financial experts themselves to demand that there are systems in place to require them to analyze the financial implications of their work. I would have liked to hear more about that in the debates.
Laurie- Amazing (but not surprising)that this insightful and useful post is not getting much attention. I guess the V14 “regulars” just want to vent amongst themselves on other topics and not address this serious concern.
Emily- Fair point, but I part time Councilor cannot be expected to do all the heavy lifting on financial analysis going up against the well paid consultants who the developers and pot shop entrepreneurs have on retainer sharpening their pencils to provide slanted (and often fanciful) projections to the City Council to get approval of what feathers their nest at the expense of the City’s tax paying residents.
When Mayor Fuller was a councilor several years ago I watched a council meeting at which the percentage of city debt was discussed. At the time there was a limit to the debt allowed.
The Council heard recommendations to raise the debt limit from
a variety of expert consultants. Both RuthAnne and Councilor
Gentile spoke in favor of increasing the city debt level.
Hence the Council voted to increase annual city spending at a higher rate. Seldom do I see many councilors question deeply
the ways and means of our budget. There are graphs readily available to compare annual spending growth. Taxes are rising
each year more quickly than in the past. Few councilors resist.
Colleen – you have asserted here that taxes are rising more quickly than in the past, and I have seen you say similar things on bother threads.
Please explain.
It is my understanding that Prop 2.5 limits the increase in revenue from the existing property tax base to 2.5% per year. Tax on a specific parcel may increase or decrease at a varied rate based on changed its assessed value compared to Newton’s total assessment. But, in my experience, the overall property tax on my house has increased at just about 2.5%/year.
Except … when we put an addition on. Because Prop 2.5 allows new growth (including our addition all the way up to the Riverside development) to be taxed at the existing rate, thus increasing the town’s tax base. So when our house grew, our taxes grew. Seems fair to me. Historically, Newton has about 1.2% of new growth annually.
The town also collects tax revenue via the meals tax (on dining out) the bed tax (on hotel rooms) the vehicle excise tax, and on marijuana sales.
If the town needs additional funds it must pass a tax override, allowing an increase in taxes on the existing property tax base in excess of 2.5%. There are two types of overrides – a general override is a permanent increase, and a debt exclusion override is tied to a bond issued by the town and will only last for the duration of the bond.
Additional non-tax revenue comes from the state for specific purposes – special education funding, maintenance of state highways, etc.
All, please let me know if I have missed a tax or other revenue source. Especially if it’s one that the mayor has discretion to raise.
[These are my personal statements and are not intended to represent my employer in any way.]