On June 11, citizens can be asked to deal with Arlington’s potential financial shortfall, which could start within two years. Why does Arlington need a working override?
The financial solution is that municipalities’ expenses in Massachusetts boom more rapidly than the 2½-percent tax growth allowed below Proposition 2½, the state law that limits annual increases in neighborhood assets taxes. Any community constructed out and missing a massive business tax base, such as Arlington, must occasionally request that voters approve. The realistic solution is extra specific.
Cuts Loom
Without an override, Arlington will need to make cuts beginning as soon as the subsequent year. Many of us will remember the full-size cuts the Town had to make before we passed our closing override in 2011. Others won’t don’t forget those cuts or didn’t live right here at the time. It is, on occasion, tough to apprehend all of the packages the Town offers our citizens until they’re lacking. The following are some examples of the way metropolis offerings contact our lives.
The Department of Public Works oversees Arlington’s complex infrastructure. The DPW manages 100 miles of public roadways, 250 miles of water-and-sewer pipes, and 3,500 hurricane drains that increase over 75 miles. It maintains Arlington’s open areas, including 19 athletic fields, 26 playgrounds, the Reservoir Beach, and Menotomy Rocks Park. The DPW is chargeable for clearing the snow and ice from our roads, keeping our public cemeteries, and overseeing trash and recycling collections.
The Health and Human Services Department works to protect our residents’ public health and assist them in accessing fitness and wellness programming. HHS conducts inspections and troubles permits for eating places and outside food carriers. It leads the fight against infectious illnesses via vaccination programs and training, especially for children and the elderly.
HHS coordinates the metropolis’s rodent-management software to address what has emerged as a growing mission for Arlington and surrounding groups. The branch also helps agencies support veterans, adolescents, and seniors.
Veterans and young people helped.
Veterans’ Services facilitates veterans’ and their households’ navigation of the Veteran’s Administration machine to receive Federal blessings. It additionally administers the country’s program to provide direct help to veterans.
The Arlington Youth Counseling Center affords intellectual health services to Arlington’s young people and their families. AYCC also runs guide agencies to recognize at-hazard populations within our community. The Arlington Youth, Health and Safety Coalition has representatives from city departments, non-public organizations, and the community who paint together to prevent substance abuse and different at-threat behaviors that negatively affect our city’s teens.
The Council on Aging is the primary company within HHS that focuses on the desires of senior residents. Its social work group of workers deals with clinical troubles, food and nutrition help, and intellectual fitness concerns. The COA runs health clinics, instructional programming, and social occasions and helps residents enroll in SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program).
The COA also coordinates transportation services for seniors, including services for scientific appointments and errand-going walks. Health and Human Services also includes the Disability Commission, the Widows Trust, and the Heating Assistance Program.
Police, libraries
Arlington’s Police Department covers the most recognized regions: crook investigations, site visitors and parking, and animal management. In addition, the department has received a reputation for its progressive method of combating the opioid epidemic, dealing with members of the general public who battle with intellectual fitness issues, and community policing.
Our firefighters aren’t the best first responders for heart and clinical emergencies, but they are additionally accountable for education, outreach, and inspection offerings to save you from fires.
The Robbins Library and the Fox Branch Library are essential to network resources that aid all citizens. The libraries comprise more than two hundred,000 gadgets of their bodily collections and provide access to more than ninety,000 titles in a virtual library shared with the aid of the Minuteman Library Network, in addition to sources exclusively to Arlington shoppers. The librarians are a supply of recommendations and assistance for users with huge-ranging questions.
Arlington’s faculties are also funded via the operating override, and this tax growth is essential to them. Enrollment in Arlington’s faculties is on the upward thrust. In the past ten years, the variety of students has grown by 27 percent. We currently have over 6,000 students and are projected to maintain development.
Arlington has undergone many modifications since I grew up here. One constant has been Arlington’s pride in looking after its personnel throughout all those years. Collectively, the offerings defined above and those not explicitly referenced help every citizen—irrespective of age or earnings—who will live their whole lives as part of this community. Now is the time to pass this work override to avoid tough cuts, keep our city and college offerings, and preserve and care for all our citizens.
