Great letter Jodi and it is very informative, and interesting, but I would like for you to elaborate a little further on a few points.

You mention that Westford's "new growth" as been level, but I question about where the Tax Revenue from the "new construction" around town is (i.e..: think "Cornerstone" or "Cottages in the Wood")? How can you say that "new growth" has been level? Many of us feel that the Board of Selectman, and the Planning Board, haven't seen a "new development" that they won't approve, in the affirmative, and are questioning where the "new tax dollars" from these "new development's" is going? So can you tell us the dollar amounts?

So what are we doing as a town to try to keep our Health Insurances Increases down? Also, why have so many (75) "existing employees become new members on our town's health plan"? Do our "Retirees" get offered the same Health Insurance as our "existing employees"? What is the difference in the Health Insurance Rates for both our Retirees and our existing employees?

I appreciate your prudent, and tireless, efforts to control our town expenses (but unfortunately there are some Employee Unions (especially the WEA) who don't seem to understand the Operating Expenses to Revenue Ratio. So are you telling us that the Town of Westford's Money Trees have stopped growing?

As I am limited by characters, I will answer in 2 parts. First, health insurance - we bid health insurance every year. In 2010 we earned a 23% increase, which was capped at 13% by our municipal group Blue Cross/Blue Shield plan. Due to our utilization and large losses (employees or retirees with serious illnesses) our premium skyrocketed. I cannot answer why 75 employees chose to enroll in 2010. Our assumption was some were on a spouse's plan that was no longer available to them (layoffs, divorces, etc.). Our retirees continue on the same plan as regular employees until they turn 65, when they are transferred to a Medicare supplemental plan. Our town costs drop significantly for retirees when this happens. For example, our employees pay approximately $6,657 per year for a family plan, while the town pays $12,363. When a retiree hits 65, they pay $2,011 for a single plan, and the town pays $3,016. If the retiree's spouse is included, it's double. In 2011, we received a bid from Tufts for a 0% premium increase, BCBS would have been a 10.3% increase. With full union support, we switched to Tufts (no small feat with approximately 977 members.) Last year we attempted to negotiate plan design changes with the unions, but we did not receive unanimous support. This would have raised co-pays from $5 for office visits to $15. Afterwards the selectmen voted to adopt new legislation MGL Chap.32B, S. 21-23 which restricts the ability of unions to block plan design changes.

We are beginning the new process of negotiating plan design changes now, with the plan to implement the changes during open enrollment in November. We are hopeful this will reduce the cost of health insurance by around $400,000 annually.

Regarding new growth, below is a recap of our new growth as certified by the DOR through 2011:
2000 1,164,921
2001 1,153,600
2002 1,992,019
2003 906,288
2004 722,732
2005 1,375,066
2006 1,186,854
2007 704,825
2008 682,195
2009 1,192,267
2010 531,068
2011 1,016,138
2012 Projected 900,000
2013 Projected 900,000

A development like Cornerstone will bring in significant new revenue, whereas Cottages in the Woods, an affordable housing development, much less. We should see increases in Cornerstone land value in FY13, along with any buildlings completed by July 1st. If you have specific projects you are interested in, I will be happy to share that information. If you go to our Assessor's Database website you may look up any property you are specifically interested in. Our expenses are exceeding our revenues, and although streamlining has helped, we cannot keep up with increases in our expenses such as health insurance, gasoline, utilities, etc.. which have been increasing more than 2 1/2% each year.

Jodi, thank you so much! Wow, I didn't expect such a quick response and so much detail!!

I am so very happy to read that the Town of Westford changed Health Insurance Companies (from BC/BS to Tufts) to help decrease our overall costs (because the BC/BS increase of 23% (then capped at 13%) was fiscally unreasonable). I am even more happy to read that you are "negotiating plan designs changes now, with the plan to implement the changes during open enrollment in November". I do not believe that asking our Town Employees to pay $15.00 per office visit, versus $5.00, is unreasonable (especially since most of us in the "private or federal sector" are paying $20.00 per office visit). Are you also looking at raising the cost of Prescription Drugs (the Tier1/Tier2/Tier 3) and what about the Yearly Plan Deductibles?

Finally, is there anyway that Westford can work with other towns (like Tyngsboro where I live, but I own Commerical Property in Westford) to pool their Retirees into some type of Health Insurance Plan that would spread the Castrophic/Illness payments out? Is there such a thing?

Jodi,
If the economy has been bad across the nation/commonwealth since 2007. And new growth has slowed accordingly, how come Westford seems to be the most 'hard up' town this entire area? We are one of the FEW that cant even afford previously negotiated step increases for Westford employees so we must be in VERY dire circumstances even above and beyond our neighbors. What has put us in a more precarious situation than the Dracuts, Ayers, Shirleys of the region??

Jodi, thank you kindly for the great "new growth" recap, too! I like to see numbers and you providing them shows me that we are still getting some dollars ($1.0M in 2011 and $531K in 2010, but not as much as we did in 2002 of $1.9M).

I understand that it isn't easy for our Town Boards to balance the ratio of "new growth" to the sometimes necessary "no build attitude"!. I just see some "new growth" built on some of the worst possible pieces of land and don't see a "pro-active remediation policy" being put into place to lessen the impact on that land, the access roads around this land, nor the neighborhood (and the "Cornerstone Development" and its impact on the very dangerous Minot's Corner really comes to mind here). It is wrong to build it without taking care of these remediation issue first, but this happens all the time!

Jodi, I also understand (and can see) that our Expenses are exceeding our Revenues.

This is one of the reasons why I have taken the position that we cannot grant the WEA their COLA and their Step Increases (along with any of the other Unions here in Town). I realize that this has made many people very upset and I am not making any "friends" in Westford. As a matter-of-fact, I have been called more names than there is space for on this Westford Patch but, I see the "writing on the wall" and it scares me (so I can't put my head in the sand and I need to speak up)!

I am happy to see that you, the Board of Selectman, and the School Committee are also doing everything within your power to articulate this "not enough Revenues to Expenses" Position. It is never easy to tell people NO, and then to articulate the reasons why, so hang in there!

In regard to the question of why we are faring worse than other towns around us for FY14, there are so many variables between towns. Westford has not laid off workers over the past 4 years whereas other towns have. We provide our residents with a higher level of services than the towns you mentioned too. For example, in Westford we do not charge for trash pickup, whereas many other towns do. We also employ more people, so costs such as health insurance are much higher than other towns. We have our own school system, (and an excellent one at that) whereas Ayer and Shirley are regionalized. We have a full-time Veteran's Agent, nurses who administer flu shots, health screenings, and other procedures. We offer full-time animal control assistance. We have an active senior center that surpasses those offered in other towns. One of the many reasons Westford is such a special community is because of the level of services we offer our residents. We have looked for areas to reduce our expenses without diminishing the services we provide. Regarding pooling our retirees, we have such a large pool, I am not sure this would benefit us, but we will investigate. In terms of new growth, please visit our website for a recent program our Director of Land Use presented for the Leaque of Women Voters. It is quite informative. Reconstruction of Minot's Corner is in the final stages of engineering as we speak, but as it is a state intersection, we need to work with the state on this project.

I live in Westford and have paid taxes for over 30 years. I am proud to say we have a wonderful town and excellent services. Our school system is a CUT above Ayer, Shirley, and Tyngsboro. Our town services are the best around. If you do not live here, but own commerical property, do you pay same tax rate as I do?

Jodi,
I respectfully offer my opinion that if town works are needed to be held on step due to finances it IS time to start making some CUTS, There is a reason most towns dont offer trash pickup anymore ..this 'level of services' that Westford residents are used to can now only be maintained by 'forcing' employees to accept zero zero zero. I submit that its then time to decrease this high level of services which have OBVIOUSLY run us nearly into the red.

I understand that part of the reason for Westford's high health insurance premiums is due to prior claim experience. 977 is a pretty small pool to spread risk over. What about joining the General Insurance Commission, to benefit from being rated in a larger pool, along with state workers and other municipal workers? I've looked at the coverage offered there and the benefits are very competitive with what private industry and, obviously, other local government workers receive.

Hi all,

Just wanted to break the news, make sure to save some questions for Patch's live one-on-one with the Town Manager next Friday at 1 p.m.

In the meantime, check out similar Patch live chats with the town managers over in Chelmsford (http://chelmsford.patch.com/articles/liveblog-chat-with-the-town-manager) and Tewksbury (http://tewksbury.patch.com/articles/live-blog-lunch-with-town-manager-richard-montuori)

The new health plan design changes the town will be proposing to our unions moves us closer to the state’s Group Insurance Commission plan. It is important to note that the town has taken many steps to reduce expenses and generate additional revenue over the past several years. On an annual basis we bid health insurance, general insurance, natural gas, electricity, town counsel services, office supplies, facility maintenance contracts, and virtually every product or service the highway department uses. We restricted the use of town vehicles, implemented an Early Retirement Bill, negotiated lower tipping fees with our trash contractor, and installed solar panels on our Stony Brook School. We consolidated positions in many departments, and reduced expenses in most departments, as we develop our budget line item by line item. We generated new revenue by leasing East Boston Camps and the three Roudenbush buildings, we marketed our own permitting software to other municipalities, we auctioned Tax Possession Sale Committee parcels, and sold surplus vehicles and equipment. We have reduced some services including retiring the library bookmobile and discontinuing our senior day care program. We always welcome suggestions for ways to reduce expenses or improve our delivery of services. The Budget Solutions Task Force was created a year ago to recommend fiscal policies to the Selectmen, Finance Committee, and School Committee as we face a substantial deficit in FY14.

Marilyn, the FY2012 Tax Rate is: Residential & Personal Property $15.55 and
Commercial & Industrial Property $15.79. I am sure that you can do the math now?

Enough with the questions (and insulting) of me and debate the article at hand!

You also do not have to live in the Town of Westford, for 30 years, in order to be able to ask questions of the Town Manager. Nor do you have to express the opinion that "the Westford School's are a CUT above Ayer, Shirley, and Tyngsboro"!

Spaeth@ "I am sure that you can do the math now?"
And thats not a sarcastic insult? Oh Brother!
Westford Schools have been a CUT above many of our neighbors but it looks like that gap is going to close as Westford's public schools are posed to 'fall back to earth' after what I have heard the vibe in the schools is...

Ha. A cut above? My kids hit Nab-Abbot-SB-WA, along with a number of foster kids over the years.

Of those, and over the last 11 or 12 years, Susan Dubois at Nab and the Integrated Preschool program are the crowning jewels of the district. It's the individual schools and how they are run which make or break the "fall back to earth", and Abbot fell many years ago. I've found it to be true for both of my older kids (one who hated it when Rose was there and one who currently hates it, who is frequently bullied by a boy in her class and begs to be home schooled on a nearly daily basis), and I wouldn't send my special needs child there to lose all of the progress he's made at Nab and Millennium if my life depended on it.

I believe the Principal sets the tone and culture of the school, and quite frankly there are a few teachers at Abbot (regular and especially special ed) who would greatly benefit this district by trying their luck working in some other, more union-friendly town. Like Ayer, Shirley, and Tyngsboro. Or even Billerica.

With the lack of snow this season, the snow removal budget must still have monies left.
Will this be returned to the town or utilized in another way?

The town's snow and ice budget is the only municipal budget allowed to be overspent. We budget annually $350,000 to cover expenses, however we typically go over that amount. We have budgeted an additonal $400,000 in FY13's budget to be prepared for deficit spending, and if it isn't needed, the surplus will be closed out and become "free cash", which helps to fund the following year's budget. Last year we spent approximately $870,000 on snow and ice removal and we have spent $533,178 this year. Although we have had a mild winter, the October snowstorm, including tree and branch debris removal and disposal, was expensive. We have applied for FEMA and MEMA reimbursement, and expect to receive some assistance with the debris cleanup costs from that storm.

Jodi,
How much revenue has the meal tax generated?

For the period from July 1, 2011 through December 31, 2011, we have collected $403,511 for hotel and meals excise tax combined. This is tracking above our projected revenue for the year.

Kathleen,
i don't think you know much about unions as you softly implied the WEA is stubborn and unreasonable.
I do know about unions, and the WEA is the softest, weakest bunch of pushovers of a union I have ever seen. The offers they have put on the table for negotiations have been very reasonable. The school committee is in for a rude awakening imo.
Why can't Westford do private trash pickup, many other towns started long ago. It seems cuts have to be made, unless it's us. It doesn't punish large families at all, I suggest you look into the actual cost of it. And BTW, large families get the greatest return on investment. Property tax rates aren't different for them vs the homeowner with no kids who doesn't use the schools. Married couple with no kids pay the same family insurance rate as the large family who is a greater burden on the system. I'm in both of those categories & you know what....I'm ok with that. But If you want to start a discussion about who the system treats unfairly, the half of Westford with children would lose big time.

Is. Bill Olsen going to do a live patch chat so I can ask my questions about his leadership this year?

Enough with the "undeserved steps" Teachers pay arrangement, like their schedule is unique. Massachusetts mandated a masters degree. Why don't you check out how much that will cost you They start off underpaid & the understanding is it will make up for itself later. And teachers are ok with it until you reneg. The steps are 1.14% of the school portion of the budget, .57% of the entire budget, that is very doable and if's not, why are we looking at the teachers? Teachers didn't get you into this problem, they give you above average performance for below average compensation. Check out other contracts in Westford and elsewhere that require much less investment & make more money. Playing "they can leave" card works both ways. If Westford is too expensive for u, u don't have to live here. U can move to one of the cheaper neighbor towns, but it's not that simple & it's stupid to express it like it is. Westford's median (not average, median) income is @ $125k a year, more w/ 2 earners. Roughly 7000 property tax payers, not including commercial. Steps are $575k according to Jodi, Spread among the tax payers, 65% of which make as much or more than teachers, it's $7 a month. Add commercial tax it's probably closer to $5. If someone can explain to me why $60 a year is unaffordable for those making $130K+ but $1700 a year for the teacher making $65k is, I'm all ears. I'll have a letter to the editor done soon to go into more detail.

And to add 'insult to injury' Westford is hiring MORE NEW non mandated teaching positions for next fall almost as we speak. There seems to be ZERO accountability at the top with administration and yet teachers are being asked to solder the reality there is no money by virtue of lack of step (not just one year but the impact is forever in their career)?
When the town loses in court next year I wonder if the School Committee and Super will have the decency to wait till the end of the year before the Sat Night Massacre of firings take place or will the axe fall left and right during the school year in an attempt to slash capital? I am sure the finger will be pointed at teachers ("you put us in this position") but please townspeople ASK why with this looming in less then a year new staff have been and continue to be hired!!

Dad,
There are plenty of new hires (replacing both bad and good former teachers I am sure) but the positions in question are 100% NEW positions. They arent replacing anyone and although some are mandated some are not (New English and History positions at WA).
Again, if the feeling is the schools are overstaffed partially causing the town to tread close to 'the red' as has been claimed. WHY are more and more NEW positions being added? This would be question #1 for Olsen if he does Live Patch Chat. When he was asked this question about 6 weeks ago at School Committee meeting he replied he only thinks and budgets 'one year at a time' so the likelihood of having to balance a budget when teachers win in court (town has to pay steps, full back pay, and possible subsequent 'punitive' damages) isnt factoring into his spending this year. Sounds very shortsighted and I content that shortsightedness is partially why we are in this mess. Time for some people in town to start asking some real questions of leadership

It will be a 'Saturday night massacre' of firings that follow so the town can balance its budget completely running the education ship aground and I hope people in town dont simply blame the 'greedy teachers' for fighting for what they had been promised and the town is obligated to pay but rather shoot some of that animosity toward their town and school leadership that opted to sit at the table play hardball and take a gamble set to cost the town much more.

I dont see WA ranking #27 on the list of MA schools a couple of years from now I am sad to say. Well you know what they say about 'betting big' (which is what the SC is doing) win big loose big

Dan C.
I didn't say you HAD to leave, I said you can. Saying if teachers don't like what the tax payer is willing to pay they can leave would be a point if the tax payer was one person, it's not. They don't deliberate & come to a unanimous decision.
Say a group in Westford organized & legislated you can't own a dog over 25 lbs. If you have or want one your stuck. The "taxpayer" decided, but not all tax payers, often not even the majority, it's the ones who have influence & organize. You can replace that example with anything, essentially you're dismissing people who rightfully have a say by saying they can leave if they don't like it. It's a moot point. It's not that simple, it's divisive, it's not how to run a community & it can also be used against you. If Westford wants to attain Weston status/cost, & you as a long time resident and tax payer want to argue against it dismissing you and saying "you can leave" isn't right. You've earned a voice as a resident, as have teachers contributing to your system.
The tax payers don't control as much as you think, I mean how much of what's going on in here is the "tax payer" controlling? A huge portion of them don't even vote. & If they were in control, this financial problem really would be their fault wouldn't it?

Also you didn't answer my question why $60 is unaffordable for the median income of $127,210 Westford resident, but $1700 for the $65k teacher is? This bad economy seems be affecting everyone but them.

Dan D. I'm not sure the town will lose, but I've been part of negotiations in other industries. I'm familiar with the laws & requirements. This is part of the contract:
"This contract is effective on the date of execution and shall remain in full force and effect until August 31, 2011 and from year to year thereafter unless either party notifies the other party prior to December 1, 2010, or any December thereafter, of its desire to terminate or modify this contract."
The S.C. hasn't said whether this was done. But if it was, why did they include the steps in the budget & approve it. The teachers had to work at the end of august for the new 2011 school year while the contract was still in effect but weren't paid steps. I don't' see how they can argue that successfully. Next year, next step, still under contract. Even if only a day or two, you have to pay them according to contract.
The problem is if the town loses, they can be forced to pay retroactive, possibly w/interest, & penalties, I've seen it happen. If they lose the whipsaw charge they can be fined. I'm not privy to the documents, only my experience & what I've observed. To me, the whipsaw violation is pretty clear. I've archived their statements on the patch (in case they decided to delete them) saying teachers won't settle even though all the other town unions have made concessions. I don't think a court will have a hard time interpreting those "on the record" statements as whipsaw. In fact...

in a way it goes beyond a common whipsaw case in that the statements weren't kept private amongst negotiation parties. They were put on the town's major website. They aren't treading lightly on anything legally (again my opinion based on what I have access to and observed) Legally you can't make that comparison because the work is different, the contracts are different and the concessions are different. So once you present one group as the holdup, the ones being unreasonable, the ones unwilling to do what everyone else was either to pressure ratifying a contract or use it to your negotiating benefit that's a whipsaw. What is even worse is normally all this stuff is kept private, almost no one outside the negotiation parties knows about it. Westford made public statements that had and will continue to have clear social consequences for the teachers. Now your in a position where damages can be assessed. I don't think it will go as far as that but just so you understand the problem. IMO, negotiating w/teacher's last was not coincidence. Anti-teacher sentiment has never been higher, putting them last & painting them as the impediment to a financial solution to the town's woes puts a lot of pressure on them to concede. Objectively I admire both sides. I admire the brilliance of that move if it was intentional. Even if it is a "dirty" tactic if this was chess that was a Bobby Fisher move.....

I also admire the teachers for not folding, many of them have a lot to lose, especially the ones near the bottom of the pay scale. That took guts. Believe it or not, I'm not even pro union. I think they had a place a long time ago and is a number of fields to do more harm than good nowadays. Teacher's unions though I firmly believe necessary. My opinion of the WEA is that as far as Unions go they are soft. They let stuff go & manage the intersection between teacher's and town in a way very forgiving of the town and very "do your best and deal with it" to the teachers they represent. The people who decry the hard head and unreasonableness of the WEA don't know the inner workings of the WEA and more importantly how most other unions are. So I think that in a number of regards the WEA is not fulfilling it's duties in the way they should (in my opinion) But perhaps they make up for that with clarity of thought because I think they made the right move at every turn with this whole mess.

What I find maddening is that even if it's decided that the Town/S.C. did things illegally and they are forced to fix it, people will still be ticked off at the teachers. No matter what I think people will continue to minimize the amount of work they do, dismiss their job as part time and in general regard and treat them as a burden. And most troubling of all, they'll do it without doing any due diligence to see if that is really the case. And why that is....I still don't know.

I wonder if this will end up costing not only teachers at the bottom of the 'food chain' their jobs but upper level leadership as well for stearing the ship into the rocks. wouldnt surprise me if the SC made Super Olsen the fall guy which wouldnt be fair but that is the way these things often unfold when things go full meltdown as I expect they will next year with the 2-3 lawsuits and I know teachers who plan a civil lawsuit against the town for damages related to holding an obligated step for 2 years should the WEA prevail at the Labor Board Court

Good points.
Sadly it may cost some teachers their job & I feel for them, I have been that guy. But people think the town is different than a business, it isn't. If they are overstaffed w/o the enrollment to sustain the workforce, people get laid off. Yet we put it on teachers to "sacrifice" & save the jobs. I've run 3 different business', it doesn't work like that. I THINK the new hire number was 20-24 not counting admin. If you are overstaffed you must get more work/revenue or reduce staff, you don't re-average the existing payroll, u don't go to the employees & say "hey, we hired a bunch of people w/temporary funds & now we can't pay them, can you do it?" It's immoral to put that on your staff & a gross copout by management. Thats what they're paid for. Not only is it unfair, financially it doesn't even work. Thats what I mean by vilifying the teachers without any due diligence. We're going to trash them for not "giving a little" (I'd say it's a lot) & save the jobs. 10 seconds on a calculator will show you that won't work. Skipping steps won't cover the jobs. Teachers aren't going to stop layoffs & it's not their job to. And if for some reason I HAD to go to my staff asking them to cover financial shortfalls, I wouldn't do it until me and all management had gone beyond what I was asking them. Not only would I be ashamed of myself otherwise, but what does it say to your people when you ask them to make sacrifices you won't. It says you don't matter, & it's demoralizing.