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Charge to the Long Range Financial Planning Committee
Background: The Town of Belmont faces serious financial challenges over the coming years. After years of struggling to work within the confines of Proposition 2½, Belmont has reached the inevitable point where the revenues do not meet the cost of providing needed services. As a result, Town voters recently approved an increase in the property tax levy above the state's 2½% limit in order to raise a needed $3 million to preserve current levels of service for FY 2002 and to invest in our roads and schools. Despite this increase, the Town is likely to continue to face significant increases in both capital needs and operating costs (e.g., health insurance and salaries) that will exceed our revenues. Meanwhile, the Visioning process undertaken by the Town identified high quality schools and other municipal services
and vital, vibrant business centers as important priorities.
Financial decisions regarding how to finance operating costs and capital investments must be made carefully as there are many constraints on the Town's revenue sources. Twenty-five percent of the Town's residents live on fixed incomes, limiting their ability to manage property tax increases. This is exacerbated further, by the fact that 94% of the Town's revenues are generated through residential property taxes.
In response to this projected lack of revenues to sustain the Town's current level of services, the Long Range Financial Planning Committee was established by the Board of Selectmen to explore and identify revenue enhancement opportunities. It is a temporary committee.
Composition: The Committee is comprised of six (6) voting members, each Selectman appointing two members.
Responsibilities: It shall be the responsibility of the Committee to facilitate, enable, and help the Town of Belmont to identify opportunities for enhancements to the Town's current revenues. This includes but is not limited to, expanding the Town's tax revenue base through net positive tax-generating land uses (e.g., commercial development), exploring opportunities for expanded state aid, reviewing the Town's current fees, and researching possible sources of grant funding. In particular, the Committee shall explore opportunities for economic development in the Town's three centers and other areas of the Town. In connection with the Committee's responsibility, it is expected that they shall complete the following tasks:
- Confer with Town officials, Town committees, and
representatives of State and Federal organizations that may have
insight into possible revenue sources/enhancements for the
Town.
- Compile a list of potential new/expanded revenue sources.
- Working with representatives of the business centers, identify
existing problems and obstacles to business development and craft
strategies for strengthening existing business and new economic
development.
- Hold public meetings, to get resident input on additional
revenue-generating opportunities.
- Develop a report for the Selectmen's review that provides a
proposal for revenue enhancements, including concrete action
steps. This report should be submitted by April 22,
2001.
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