The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) will decide in early 2022 which town will receive the Small Library Pilot Project grant covering 75% of the eligible costs to construct a new library. Of the original four applicants, Chester and Florida have dropped out, leaving only Shutesbury and Otis as contenders.
How will the MBLC decide which town is most deserving? The Pilot Project Program Notice hints about the Selection Procedure, outlining the review panel that will study the worthiness of the applicants and recommend the winner to the MBLC Director. It is not a complete picture, however, since the document states that “A site visit and in-depth interview will be part of the review process”, indicating a more rigorous investigation than is described.
The panel has other metrics to consider, such as financial barometers and community needs. The list of six indicators is apparently not exhaustive, being introduced by the phrase, “The criteria for review and ranking will include”—again inferring that there is more to the list than meets the eye.
Trying to guess the victor is difficult, considering the dearth of information available. One thing seems certain: The decision will be made subjectively, not objectively.
Since I can’t resist prognosticating, I delved into some facts and figures in an effort to predict the winner. Here’s what I came up with, taking one criterion at a time.
1. Community need as determined by the current facility and its inadequacy to meet the community’s library service needs. Deferred maintenance must not be the primary reason for inadequacy.
In addition to a lack of water and septic to M.N. Spear and potable water to the Otis Library and Museum, both towns blame current space restrictions as the reason for a new library. Shutesbury’s MN Spear Library is only 768 or 900 square feet, (depending upon which library document is used as a source) and the Otis Library and Museum is 1,200 square feet (Note: the square footage for the Otis library listed on the MBLC Library Statistics page for 2018 is incorrect; I obtained the correct building size by calling the Otis Library Director).
In 2018 Shutesbury became number two in total circulation in the small library category (town population fewer than 2,000) in spite of our small building. Otis is further down the list, at number 14. This is a great achievement and shows that its small size has not prevented the MN Spear Memorial Library from serving the public’s needs.
2. Community Need Factor as calculated using DOR’s 2022 data for EQV and income per capita.
Comparing equalized values (the total value of all assessed property in town) for both towns, we see that Otis has a whopping $659 million compared to Shutesbury’s $244 million for 2020. Assumedly, the gap will be just as wide for the year 2022.
Otis beats Shutesbury regarding income per capita, as well: $35,153 vs. $28,862 for 2022.
Based on these two measures, Shutesbury appears to be the neediest.
3. Demonstrated community readiness and support for a major capital project.
This metric is unclear. Does “community readiness” reflect the information collected from the other criteria? Or is it a measure of something else? If it is the former, it seems redundant to include it as a separate category; if it is the latter, it is a useless measure unless it is made more clear.
“Community support” is equally vague: do they mean financial (which would be answered via other criteria on the list) or a general enthusiasm?
Except for the select few Shutesburians with which they have consistent contact, the Commissioners might find zeal for this project wanting. As an example, note the 100 or so persons assembled at the videoed August 17 informational meeting. Assuming 75 of the attendees were pro-project, that number reflects only 5.2% of the registered voters in Shutesbury. Also, this number was achieved only after each Trustee contacted “a few people” to request they attend in an effort to achieve “a large turnout”.
4. Availability of a suitable site.
I found no information pertaining to Otis’ optimal site for a new library. For Shutesbury, the choice seems to be Lot O-32. In mid-September, soil and groundwater samples were taken and sent for testing; so far no results have been announced.
5. Town/library willingness to work closely with the MBLC in the programming and design of the library.
Since this is a requirement, no doubt both towns plan to comply.
6. Financial stability of the municipality, its bonding capacity, and any financial reserves.
While both towns are financially stable, Otis has several advantages over Shutesbury.
Since 2017, Otis has been feeding its Stabilization fund with cash, raising its rainy day fund from about $847,000 in 2017 to a robust $1.3 million in 2021. Shutesbury had approximately $1.04 million in its Stabilization account in the years 2017 and 2018, but reserves fell in the next two years. In 2021 Shutesbury had about $711,000 available in its Stabilization fund.
When it comes to Free Cash, Shutesbury had slightly more in 2021 than did Otis—$1.4 million to Otis’ $1.2 million.
When it comes to overall wealth, Otis shines. The town has 1,536 single-family parcels compared to Shutesbury’s 748 and, since 2012, Otis has added 17 new parcels to the tax rolls while Shutesbury has lost 37. Single-family values in Otis total more than $501 million and Shutesbury’s stand at a little more than $187 million.
Otis’ average single-family values are higher than Shutesbury’s too: $326,575 to $250,434. Shutesbury’s average tax bill, at $5,662, is more than double that of Otis, which is a mere $2,766. Shutesbury residents face more of a struggle paying their tax bills, as well, using over 21% of their income to do so. Otis taxpayers spend only 8.35% of their income on property taxes.
Both towns have a single tax rate. For fiscal year 2021, Shutesbury’s rate was $22.61 ($23.37 for FY22). Otis’ fiscal year 2021 tax rate was $8.47, less than half of Shutesbury’s.
Checking the FY2020 Municipal Debt spreadsheet online, I found Otis carries no debt, compared to Shutesbury’s modest $232,000. The Division of Local Services notes that Otis has a Standard & Poor’s bond rating of AA, but does not report any rating for Shutesbury (though several other municipalities are missing this information, as well).
Conclusions
Predicting a winner is nearly impossible based upon the above criteria, some of which seem to be at odds with others.
The concept of “need” is particularly confusing. If the predominant factor is income and equalized values, Shutesbury wins hands-down. Assumedly, this criterion is meant to give state aid to the less wealthy small towns.
But this seems to contradict the last criterion, which appears to give weight to towns with large cash reserves and the ability to take on debt. For Shutesbury, the propensity to tax so close to the limit of $25/$1000 of valuation set by Proposition 2 ½ implies little financial wiggle room for new expenditures or debt.
Also, the work put in by Shutesbury to whittle down its debt over the past 20 years may indicate a disinclination to again take on large amounts of debt. To learn more about Shutesbury’s debt history, see my post dated August 11, 2021 “Inside Shutesbury’s Cash Stockpile”.
On the other hand, Otis’ low tax rate, lack of debt, and a large pool of taxable properties may make it look more “stable” to the review board members making the ultimate recommendation. With selection guidelines this vague, it’s anybody’s guess.
Weekly Factoid:
The first public library in the U.S. was founded in 1790 in Franklin, Massachusetts. The initial collection of books available to lend to the public was donated by Benjamin Franklin, after whom the town was named.
Source: Town of Franklin, MA
No comments:
New comments are not allowed.