When I ran for the Selectboard in Great Barrington, many voters told me our tax rate was making it difficult for them to live here. There are a number of reasons our taxes are high and a few, very few, things that can be done to slow the increase. But voting against the Monument renovation is not one of them. A NO vote will not mean lower taxes.
The only fiscally responsible vote on Nov. 4th is YES to support the renovation plan. Any other result will cost Great Barrington taxpayers significantly more money. It’s sad, infuriating, even, but true. The state reimburses at a much higher rate if we make educational improvements than if we just make repairs. It costs us less to renovate (a YES vote) than to maintain the building and bring it up to code (a NO vote). It’s really that simple. The school committee’s Repair Only option spells it out in detail.
Last May, I took the school committee at its word that it would cost more to repair than to renovate. Now, as a Selectboard member, I decided to look into it myself. With the help of people who know how to do this I reviewed every line of the “Repair Only” plan, the list of repairs to keep the building going if we don’t renovate it. There wasn’t anything on the list that is unnecessary or overstated.
You may have read that we can do this for less if we cut corners, eliminate school choice, or merge with other districts. Even if that were true, (it’s not, there are no real numbers to back up any of those claims), even if any of that were to happen today (it won’t, some of these issues have been debated for years,) we would have to start the planning and funding process over. That can take 5- 8 years or more IF WE ARE ACCEPTED for state funding (a big “if”) during which time we will spend millions on the existing building.
In hundreds of public meetings over eight years a dozen different plans were created, cost-estimated, and considered before the current one was selected. Architects, engineers, educators, funding and financial professionals created the renovation plan, overseen by a committee of 10 taxpayers. They concluded there is no less expensive way to do this.
It would be wonderful if the school committee could wave a magic wand to create a better, less expensive plan and still get the state to kick in almost 50 percent. Magic wands don’t exist. In the actual world we live in with the actual options before us, there is no better option available than the one on the ballot. That is true financially (for which we have facts and numbers) and educationally (for which I am trusting the educators, administrators and community volunteers who worked on the plan for the past eight years).
I know it hurts. The tax increase will hurt all of us. But the only responsible thing I can do as a voter is decide based on the real options. So, I’m voting YES.
