Out-Of-Control Spending or Bumps In the Road?
Despite turmoil and unrest on the Board of Selectmen, conventional wisdom has it that the town's fiscal affairs are being well managed by the Town Manager. An analysis of town spending trends and patterns prepared by economist Kevin Lindemer and Selectman Jack Petropoulos, however, shows spending trends that, if continued, could be unsustainable.
Additionally, spending growth in comparable towns is dwarfed by Groton's growth rate. Selectman Petropoulos noted that more needs to be done to understand the data contained in the analysis. He said, "Our work was really intended to get leadership to say: 'We may have a problem brewing here. How do we evaluate it?'
The motivation for the analysis came from 'working loosely with Jay Prager on some of these numbers last year for municipal and school growth,' Petropoulos said. In fact, he noted that as early as last election season he had asked both Anna Eliot and Peter Cunningham at Candidates night whether they would pledge to limit the growth rate of municipal spending to be equal to or less then the revenue growth rate. Petropoulos said that he and Kevin Lindemer had taken on this analysis when they saw the growth of municipal spending in the proposed budget.
Looking for spending trends and patterns, Petropoulos and Lindemer, undertook the study of Groton budgets across various time periods. Before presenting the benchmarking analysis report at the last Finance Committee meeting, March 3,
Lindemer, also serving as an Electric Light Commissioner, said that GELD regularly uses such benchmarking as a financial tool to help control costs, implying that such an annual analysis might be a useful tool for the town to adopt. Petropoulos further noted that he had been calling for such regular analysis since his early days as a Selectman, saying, "This study is a major step toward providing a base from which we could build a tool for regular benchmarking of our spending over time and against similar towns."
The benchmarking team used historical data supplied by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue [DOR], financial data supplied by the Town Manager and other general economic data as the basis for their analysis. They produced a report titled Town of Groton Budget and Benchmark Analysis with 22 pages of charts showing spending patterns and trends over time.
Some of the questions they sought to answer and their conclusions are listed below in a Q+A format:
How does Groton's historic taxing and spending compare with relevant measures such as inflation, income growth and other towns?
Since 2012, the average residential tax levy in Groton has increased about 13.4 percent -- nearly three percent faster than the annual rate of inflation and more than any surrounding towns.
Groton's rate of increase in per capita expenditures has been higher than nearly all comparable towns.
