How the Governor's Budget Proposal Will Affect Reading and North Reading
The new budget will affect state aid in both towns.
Last Wednesday, Governor Patrick submitted his $34.8 billion budget to the Legislature. The proposed income tax hike is part of a comprehensive package aimed at investing in the state's infrastructure and in driving growth, Patrick said.
Take a look at how the numbers affect both Reading and North Reading:
Reading
|
FY 2013 Cherry Sheet Estimate |
FY 2014 Gov. budget ($) |
Difference ($) | |
| Education Funding | |||
| Chapter 70 state education aid | 9,903,702 |
10,011,427 |
107,725 |
| Total education aid | 9,930,333 |
10,040,18 |
109,855 |
| General government | |||
| Unrestricted general government | 2,742,082 |
2,742,082 |
0 |
| Sub-total, All general government | 3,098,039 |
3,115,638 |
17,599 |
| Total Aid (minus state assessments) | 12,380,617 | 12,511,457 | 130,840 |
According to Assistant Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Chapter 70 funding state-wide was increased by 5.4 percent, but Reading only saw a 1.1 percent increase.
"General government state-wide was increased by 3 percent state-wide in a new annual formula local aid line item, which is based on the wealth of the community and ‘ability to pay’. Reading saw an increase of 2.9 percent or $79k," LeLacheur said. "In FY13 our initial local aid (excluding school lunches and library aid which directly fund those purposes) was scheduled to be $12,985,784, so last fall we used $13 million as our assumption for FY14 local aid. Unfortunately the Governor’s budget, which is predicated on increases in tax revenues, provides only $133,041 more in local aid than our $13 million estimate."
North Reading
|
FY 2013 Cherry Sheet Estimate |
FY 2014 Gov. budget ($) |
Difference ($) | |
| Education Funding | |||
| Chapter 70 state education aid | 6,562,100 |
6,625,625 |
63,525 |
| Total education aid | 6,571,852 |
6,634,400 |
62,548 |
| General government | |||
| Unrestricted general government | 1,501,819 |
1,501,819 |
0 |
| Sub-total, All general government | 1,682,467 |
1,766,386 |
83,919 |
| Total Aid (minus state assessments) | 8,063,269 |
8,194,766 |
131,497 |
"Much of the Governor’s budget proposal is based on tax increases. As a result, I am cautious about any of the State Aid amounts listed for FY 2014," Town Administrator Greg Balukonis said.
*The Cherry sheets for both towns are attached to this post.
