The Select Board is the Weston’s primary policy-making body for a variety of issues affecting service delivery, finance, and development. It also appoints the Town Manager, Chief of Police, Fire Chief and Public Works director. It appoints members to numerous key Town committees & boards. The Board works closely with these, as well as elected boards on various important Town projects. Clearly, this is a big job, and they perform an active and critical role in our town’s management and financial health.

A Town Crier article three weeks ago provided “A Layperson’s Guide to Weston Town Meeting.” In addition to describing the specific items to be voted, the article encouraged all residents to participate in this year’s annual Town Meeting, which will be held outdoors this Saturday May 15, at 2 p.m. at the Weston High School football field.

The earlier article only briefly mentioned the most important agenda item – Article 2, the proposed FY2022 town budget – so that it could be more fully discussed by itself here. Very few residents are comfortable with, or have the time to go through, all the budget detail presented in the Warrant booklet, let alone the line-by-line minutiae on the town website.

The Weston town election is this Saturday, May 8. If you are registered and have not already voted by mail, you can vote in person at Town Hall from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday. In addition to several elected positions on the ballot, there is a Ballot Question 1: Proposition 2 ½ Debt Exclusion, explained here in layperson’s terms. And that, in turn, raises some larger issues about the current relevance of Proposition 2 ½ in Weston.

Ballot Question 1 is not really about the specific projects mentioned in the Warrant book, but about Weston’s debt and disappearing spending constraints. You can vote “No” on Question 1 and still vote “Yes” at town meeting to support the three projects.

A few weeks ago, a Weston Select Board member published a Town Crier article, “Are All Towns Created Equally?” That article offhandedly dismissed the many recent fact-based articles showing that, by any relevant metric, Weston’s taxes are much higher, with mostly average performance metrics among comparable affluent Boston-area communities.

The diagram in that article from Winnipeg, Canada was offered as proof that, given Weston’s current population density, it would be impossible to improve our town services and schools while also reducing our property tax burden. The article went on to say that making comparisons to Wellesley, Wayland, and the other towns used by the Finance Committee is useless because Weston is unique!

The truth is that Weston faces several significant financial challenges.

On average, only about 12% of Weston registered voters participate in town elections and only a few hundred (3-4%) attend town meetings. Yet, our elected town leaders drive town priorities and policies, and at our town meeting we collectively vote on our property taxes, major projects, and zoning and other bylaws.

Town meeting this year is on Saturday May 15, at 2 p.m. on the Weston High School field. This article summarizes the key items to be voted, in the hope of persuading you to attend. General information on our town meeting and its procedures is available on the town website, Weston.org. The long legal document that constitutes the agenda for the meeting, called the Warrant, will be mailed to all residents and is also available online.

Relative to comparable affluent Boston area school districts, Weston Public School academic performance is not exceptional, despite per pupil expenses that are 26% higher than these comparable districts. In a town so dedicated to academic excellence, these facts are doubly concerning since the School Committee – rather than urgently addressing these issues – is now proposing another budget increase, despite declining enrollment, and an $80,000 recreation planning study. This study will most likely result in plans for more school athletic facilities, on top of the $5 million we spent to renovate the football field and track a few years ago.

With an eye toward Weston’s upcoming elections, this article is an invitation to reflect on Weston’s current financial situation, and need for change – to fix an unguided budgeting process, address issues with openness, transparency and civility, promote a results-based approach to staffing and spending, and acknowledge the impact of rising property taxes on property values. These are leadership issues.

Each of us can then decide which candidates to support, and at the town meeting the following week, decide whether to approve the proposed town budget and property tax increases, or to send them back for revision.

In early May, just a few weeks from now, we will elect town leaders who have the authority and responsibility to manage important aspects of our local government. And the following week, at our Annual Town Meeting, we will vote on the town and school budget, and other issues that will determine our property taxes for the next year. None of this is a black box – or at least it should not be. These are decisions for all of us to make. So, perhaps this is a good time to review some of the non-financial opportunities and challenges we face as a town.

Weston’s property taxes are significantly higher than neighboring comparable towns and have been growing faster than inflation. One of the primary drivers has been a rapid increase in employee compensation. The number of people we employ in town government has been relatively flat, in line with Weston’s stable population and number of households. The number of teachers and staff employed by the schools is also flat despite a significant decline in Weston school enrollment.

This article and accompanying chart provide some additional perspective on the primary drivers of recent Weston spending and property tax growth. The chart also shows typical Weston tax bills projected forward based on a detailed analysis of recent spending trends for our schools and town departments, using fact-based assumptions about town population growth, school enrollment, property value appreciation, inflation, and so forth. Of course, different assumptions could result in higher or lower projections.

The intent is to provide a reasonable estimate of how your Weston Property taxes are likely to grow, and that growth accelerate, over the next 10 years if current town spending policies and trends continue.

​Last week, the Town Crier published a letter from Select Board member Harvey Boshart asking, “Are Weston’s property taxes too high?” Mr. Boshart’s main points were that looking at Weston’s high average tax bill versus comparable towns overstates the differences, so it is more appropriate to use the lower median tax figure. He also noted that all towns offer different amenities and make different financial decisions, so comparing how much we pay in taxes oversimplifies Weston’s financial circumstances and challenges.

This article is intended to respond to Mr. Boshart’s points – correcting his data and analysis, and attempting to refocus our town conversation away from arguments about yardsticks and back onto the significant fundamental financial issues facing our town.

Yes, our taxes are too high because our spending is too high.

Because “hope is not a strategy,” successful organizations create plans that outline goals, actions, and accountability. The Weston School District needs to develop a comprehensive plan to ensure its long-term success, a plan that focuses on outcomes – again, are we getting what we are paying for? – and lays the groundwork for creating reasonable budgets, measured success, and a competitive advantage over other towns.

One could argue that school excellence has both objective and subjective components. While these objective performance measures may be average, other more subjective factors might rank Weston more highly. Those other factors contribute to Weston school excellence, both in fact and perception – among parents, other residents, and beyond. Families considering whether to move into town consider these perceptions, in particular, to help them decide whether the quality of our schools is worth the much higher cost of living in Weston. Consequently, those perceptions ultimately help drive our real estate values and appreciation, which for some years has been lagging.

So how are Weston’s schools perceived outside of town?

Weston Town Manager Leon Gaumond recently presented his proposed Fiscal Year 2022 budget to the Select Board and members of the Finance Committee. Overall, for next year he is recommending $101 million total Town spending, up 4.4%. This reflects Weston Public School spending up about 3% and the balance of Town spending up over 5%. Debt service, including the large Town Center projects now underway, is down about 2%.

In some past years, the additional tax revenue from new home construction and expansions covered a large portion of Town budget growth. Now, however, because Town spending is growing more rapidly and “new growth” is projected to be about 1%, a typical Weston homeowner will see a 5% tax increase. This article and the accompanying chart attempt to explain in simple terms how key aspects of town spending ultimately determine your taxes. There is still time to register your opinion with the Select Board, and then attend the Annual Town Meeting in May, where you can vote to approve this budget and proposed tax increase, or not.

Just about one year ago, I submitted a letter to the Town Crier in which I summarized my reactions to the presentation by the Weston School Committee regarding its proposed FY2021 Budget. I said in the opening paragraph of that letter that I am not an educator, but I have the highest regard for those who are. And that is still true. And I care about Weston students getting the best possible preparation for college and for life.

But I would like to frame, once again, the issues that I believe exist in the school portion of the Town budget because we are beginning to enter the FY2022 budget season and the issues haven’t really changed very much. Even though none of this is new, it is still important, and as residents and parents we do have another opportunity to ask ourselves, “Are we getting what we’re paying for?”

There was a wide-ranging discussion on the Weston Facebook page earlier this week surrounding the new group Focus On Weston, and the group’s first of several planned Town Crier articles. In particular, some questioned the statement, “Unlike in other affluent Boston-area towns, homes in Weston have not appreciated materially in value over the last 5, 10, or even 15 years.”

Weston quarterly tax bills just came out. Now that you’ve paid it, do you have a clear sense of where that money is going? Do you feel like you’re getting your money’s worth?

Unlike in other affluent Boston-area towns, homes in Weston have not appreciated materially in value over the last 5, 10, or even 15 years. However, our property taxes for the average or median home, and per capita, are significantly higher. This is because Weston town spending exceeds the per-household spending of other comparable towns.

As follow-up to last week’s article by the Weston Finance Committee, “Fincom Perspective on Weston’s School Budget”, which detailed our lack of support for the proposed Fiscal Year 2021 town budget as recommended by the Town Manager, we want to provide a revised exhibit and some additional perspective on the issues it raises with respect to the town’s many recent amenity projects, and especially the proposed 2020 Recreation Master Plan.

As noted last week, we do not oppose the school budget increase of 3.5%, which is 1.7% after adjusting for accounting changes and legally mandated special education expenses. Rather, we are concerned by the remaining proposed municipal budget in this unprecedented environment. We have recommended deferring all significant discretionary spending and all proposed budget increases which are not absolutely necessary until after the current crisis has subsided. When the duration and economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic is better understood, it may be appropriate to restore discretionary expenses and investments on which there is already broad agreement, and debate other initiatives as may be prudent at that time.

As follow-up to last week’s article by the Weston Finance Committee, “Fincom on Town’s Debt and Unfunded Liabilities”, which detailed our lack of support for the proposed Fiscal Year 2021 town budget as recommended by the Town Manager, we want to provide some additional perspective on Weston’s public school spending.

​As noted last week, we do not oppose the school budget increase of 3.5%, which is 1.7% after adjusting for accounting changes and legally mandated special education expenses. Rather, we are concerned by the remaining proposed municipal budget in this unprecedented environment. We have recommended deferring all significant discretionary spending and all proposed budget increases which are not absolutely necessary until after the current crisis has subsided. At that point, we may be able to restore discretionary expenses and investments on which there is already broad agreement and debate other increases as may be prudent at that time.

From the Weston Town Crier, April 16, 2020

​As follow-up to last week’s article by the Weston Finance Committee, “Finance Committee Perspective on FY 2021 Budget and Taxes”, which detailed our lack of support for the proposed Fiscal Year 2021 town budget as recommended by the Town Manager, we want to provide some additional perspective on Weston’s debt and unfunded liabilities.

As noted last week, we do not oppose the school budget increase of 3.5%, which is 1.7% after adjusting for accounting changes and legally mandated special education expenses. Rather, we are concerned by the remaining proposed municipal budget in this unprecedented environment. We recommend deferring all significant discretionary spending and all proposed budget increases which are not absolutely necessary until after the current crisis has subsided. At that point, we may be able to restore discretionary expenses and investments on which there is already broad agreement and debate other increases as may be prudent at that time.