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5422. Legislators - Tax Caps SELECTMEN'S MEETING JANUARY 16, 1979 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Select- men's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Tuesday, January 16, 1979, at 7:30 p.m. Chairman Battin, Mr. Busa, Mrs. Miley, Mr. Kent, Mr. Crain; Mr. Hutchinson, Town Manager; Mr. Cohen, Town Counsel; Mrs. Banks, Assistant to the Town Manager; Mrs. McCurdy, Executive Clerk, were present. Chairman Battin welcomed Senator Rotondi and Representative Cole for a joint discussion on the Governor's tax capping proposal. Mr. Brown, Chairman, and members of the School Committee, Dr. Lawson, Superintendent of Schools, Mr. Silverman, Chairman of theAp�'..:.'. 'p r'p.'pxi.stion• Committee, and representatives of theC'a;p:Expeind'itures Committee were also present. Chairman Battin said that, as of now, the Mass. Municipal Associations do not have a posture regarding tax limitations and are waiting to see what the Governor proposes. We now have a coalition of not only the Managers, Mayors and Selectmen but also with School Superintendents and School Committees. This group will work to preserve the rights of the taxpayers to make the decisions concerning governments at the local level. Mrs. Battin turned the meeting over to Mr. Kent, our Legislative Liaison. Mr. Kent said that the School Committee has asked that we devote the first segment to matters of interest and concern to them, and the School Aid picture is of concern to us. Senator Rotondi said that Governor King was talking about a position on School Aid which would guarantee that communities would get at least 10 percent of what they received the prior fiscal year. Many of the people who supported the legislation decided they wanted 15 percent; in the Senate, it was reduced to 7 percent. He was co-sponsor of a bill for reimbursement to the level of FY 79,'and then we hope to add the cost of inflation. It is important that municipal associa- tions get together with us to put a guaranteed percentage factor into that. He will be dealing with that issue directly and has also been made Chairman of the Public Service Committee, which deals with the issues of collective bargaining, binding arbitration, and the impact of these types of programs on municipalities. Mr. Brown said that you don't know exactly what the percentage would be; if you follow Boston's cost of living index, it would not be fair to the rest of the state. Representative Cole stated his position on the subject of caps. He did not see how the state can mandate programs on,municipalities and then say we are going to put a cap on what you spend. There is no possibility of balancing the budget the way you would like to do it. He had difficulty accepting caps unless the mandatee programs are state funded. If caps are imposed on municipalities, he expected that both school and general govern- ment would be lumped together. 1 1