Georgetown’s leaders prepare each year’s budget to balance the need for services with fiscal responsibility and respect for the taxpayer.
The town and schools must react to the same inflationary factors as its residents. But the town and schools also face a number of costs that well exceed 2.5 percent each year, such as costs for out-of-district special education tuition, insurance, and transportation. Levels of future state and federal funding are unclear.
Further, Georgetown is growing, and there is significant new demand for services including police, fire and ambulance, plus our efforts to meet the needs of our seniors and veterans.
Two-thirds of the tax levy comes from residential properties. Town government has found numerous efficiencies in recent years to limit the impact of increases taxes. However, about 80 percent of our costs are related to personnel. If costs increase more than 2.5 percent each year, overrides will be necessary to maintain basic services.
In addition to funding the items that would be cut in the level funded budget, the school department also be able to make the necessary enhancements to technology, facilities, safety that have been deferred. More detail can be located on the community impacts tab on this website.
While also to funding the level services budget for the Town, 3 additional firefighters and 2 additional police officers will be hired to enhance emergency and public safety response.
Approximately $1 million dollars will be placed in stabilization funds to be used to support future needs and avoid the need for a potential Proposition 2 1/2 override in the near future.
You can find your home’s value on this map: Georgetown MIMAP (mvpc.org) or by calling the town assessor’s office at (978) 352-5708.
Each department’s budget is likely to change based on actual needs. At the end of the year, excess funds are “returned” to the town and become part of our “free cash” balance. Excess revenues that we may not have expected are also added to free cash. Voters at Town Meeting can decide to allocate free cash as recommended, typically to pay for expenses that exceeded budget like snow and ice removal, or to save for capital projects or other town obligations.
Our host agreements have provided the Town with roughly $3 million since 2017. Under state regulation these revenues must be directed to the Town’s general fund. The Town also received $1.6 million dollars from the Cannabis excise tax, which is separate from the host agreement funds, that is directed to the Town’s Tax Stabilization, Capital Stabilization, and General Fund Accounts.
Host Agreement funds directed to the general fund were utilized to fund the operations of the Town and School departments. Due to changes in law administered by the Cannabis Control Commission, the Town no longer receives these host agreement funds, but continues to receive Cannabis excise tax payments.
The annual proposed budgets are available here:
https://georgetownma.gov/government/boards___commissions/finance_advisory_board/index.phpin. In addition to the resources available under the “documents and presentations” tab of this website. You may also contact the town administrator.
Although we have no way to “guarantee” future budget needs, it is expected that an approved override for the town will be able to provide level services for a number of years. There are unknowns with regard to the future of state aid, or unsettled contracts, but we are confident that providing this increase will go a long way to supporting the town’s needs.
Yes, the town provides an exemption for volunteer work as well as other state programs aimed at senior citizens and veterans. Programs may be found here or contact the assessor’s office for more information.
Proposition 2 ½ is a state law that limits the increase in tax base (called the “levy”) each year to 2.5 percent, plus any “new growth” such as new development or property that has returned to the tax rolls.
The law allows residents to “override” the law and increase the levy by a stated amount beyond 2.5 percent, giving voters the power to determine the level of services they wish to fund.
An override requires two approvals, at Town Meeting and through a town-wide referendum.
The tax levy limit is assessed at a town level rather than by individual property. As recent sales in your area have occurred, you may have noticed your assessment increase significantly at some point in the past few years. Some homeowners have seen a reduction in their property tax bill if their assessment has not changed significantly from the previous year.
The last approved override to fund the public school operating budget was from 2012 and we have been able to make it almost 12 years without asking the voters for another. The proposed budget was developed with the goal of sustaining 2-3 percent increases every year after initial investments in technology, curriculum, and professional development.
The Town has been working towards obtaining grants that provide additional and needed funding to the departments. The following is a list of grants that the town has obtained in previous years, FY22-FY25.
The Police Department proactively protects the safety of our community, and we are proud that we are able to keep Georgetown a safe place to live and work. However, we are a growing community, and this means significantly increased demand for public safety.
Additional funding means we will be able to meet our contractual obligations, cover increased expenses, fund the Animal Control Officer’s position, and hire two officers to maintain our high level of service.
Without additional funding, we will have fewer officers on patrol, no Animal Control Officer, and must defer a vehicle purchase. Additionally, SRO will be removed from schools and reassigned to patrol.
The department is currently staffed by five full-time firefighters and a full-time chief. Most of the shift hours worked are by a call firefighter force of approximately 20 firefighters who also work regular per-diem shifts supplemented by the full-time staff. The majority, 52%, of the fire department’s hours worked are by per diem/call firefighters.
The department currently has 20 firefighters who are considered “paid-on-call.” These members are utilized in several ways within the department. A small number turn out only when there is an emergency and they are available, while the remainder typically work per-diem shifts in the department, supplementing our current full time staff. Approximately half of these firefighters live in town, reducing the actual availability of a call firefighter.
Over the years, we have seen close to a 40% reduction in call firefighter staffing as demands of other jobs, family, training requirements, and the general demands of being a paid-on-call firefighter have made it difficult to maintain our staffing. This trend does not show any sign of letting up, and recruitment and retention of paid-on-call firefighters is expected to continue to decline precipitously in the coming years.
While they are important members of our department, a report on our department in 2018 showed that our current per-diem model of staffing is not sustainable. As our call force continues to decline, this is leaving increased shifts unstaffed and requiring our full-time staff to pick up the extra shifts or going unfilled altogether. The model is losing efficiency and is unsustainable.
Unfortunately, this isn’t a one-size-fits-all question. The department looks at its current emergency call workload, trends, secondary responsibilities (fire prevention, fire safety education, public relations, etc.) and uses mandates and industry guidelines to recommend and set the optimal staffing levels. Weekday hours historically produce the largest call volume as well as contribute to the most secondary responsibilities and administrative work. In addition, fire dynamics have changed considerably over the past 3-4 decades. The modern fire formula is “larger homes plus open floor plans plus increased fuel loads plus new construction materials equals shorter escape time and shorter time to collapse.” (Analysis of Changing Residential Fire Dynamics and Its Implications on Firefighter Operation Timeframes; Kerber, Stephen; 2011; UL, LLC)
When looking at mandates and industry guidelines, to operate an ambulance it requires at least two EMTs. For a fire response, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recommends for suburban communities of our size have at least 10 firefighters on scene within 10 minutes. In addition, OSHA mandates require at least 4 firefighters be on scene (referred to as the 2-in/2- out rule) in an immediately dangerous to life and health (IDLH) environment.
Based on this information, the Georgetown Fire Department believes in a minimum staffing level of three firefighters on duty 24/7/365. This allows for a full engine company response and the Chief or other command staff officer to arrive and immediately begin work in an IDLH environment. It also allows for staffing of the ambulance and leaving at least one firefighter in town on duty to respond and make immediate decisions. What it does not cover is simultaneous calls. This is where both callback and the regional mutual aid system are crucial to the stability of our public safety.
The District begins crafting the budget for the coming year in late fall. Administrators and building principals develop lists of their needs and wishes. These lists are reviewed and refined by the District’s Finance Team with the goal of fulfilling our vision and obtaining the best educational outcomes for our students.
District leaders work collaboratively with officials in our sending communities to understand more about their challenges within the confines of Proposition 2 ½. The School Committee reviews these proposals and voted on the final proposed budget in March. This budget becomes part of the overall budget to be voted on at Town Meeting in May.
However, the District budget comes into sharper focus as we receive new information. State aid estimates are currently based on the Governor’s budget proposal, but are not finalized until at least June.
The DESE link below has detailed enrollment by school for the state: https://profiles.doe.mass.edu/statereport/enrollmentbygrade.aspx
This DESE link has detailed per pupil spending information. (Please note that you may need to download the Excel file to view the data.)
https://www.doe.mass.edu/finance/statistics/per-pupil-exp.html