A Better Westford for Everyone

I will fight for all the residents of Westford.  Here's how:

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1. ​Keep Westford Affordable

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Affordability is not just about fixed income and senior residents.  It effects many working families as well.  A 2024 report in SmartAsset estimates that for a family of 4 (2 working parents and 2 children) in Massachusetts, an income of $301,184 is needed to live comfortably.  That is the highest in the nation.

How can we work to keep Westford Affordable?

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It starts by being smart about zoning.  ​Housing affordability is not solved by building high density housing all owned by a single entity and rented out at market rates, nor is it solved by building multi-million dollar sub-divisions.  Housing affordability is helped by encouraging lower cost homeownership options.  This can be through both zoning districts that encourage smaller homes to be built, as well as re-zoning high density development areas back to require a special permit.  The special permit process would allow the town to have more leverage, such as multi-use developments (to better balance tax revenue) or encouraging portions of high density developments to be sold as condos.  A garden style condo can be purchased in nearby Chelmsford or Acton with a monthly payment often less than the monthly rental cost in the current Westford developments.  As a benefit, as values and rental rates increase, an owner keeps their costs flat (with a fixed rate mortgage) and benefits long term from that price appreciation.  That is true long term affordability.

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2. Avoid Future Prop 2 ½ Overrides

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The annual increase in real estate taxes is limited in Massachusetts by Prop 2 1/2, which was enacted in the early 1980's through a citizen's petition.  It puts significant pressure on local governments, as the only way to increase taxes more than 2 1/2% per year is to get the approval of a majority of voters.  As you recall, Westford attempted that "override" as they are called, last year.  That failed by 12 points, 56% No vs 44% Yes.

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Overrides can be avoided by a combination of reducing spending and raising non-real-estate-tax revenue.  There are multiple means by which the town can reduce spending without reducing service levels.  I will champion smart, cost-effective decisions that maintain service levels without overburdening taxpayers. This includes exploring initiatives such as switching to in-house busing, considering pre-owned vehicles for town services, exploring options to regionalize things such as dispatch, implement sharing between departments of infrequently used resources, and encouraging multiple options for capital requests to ensure we're making the most cost-effective choices for our community.​

 

3. Rebuild Our Commercial Base

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It’s critical that we rebuild our commercial base.  Why?  Because residential properties alone cannot support all of the town services that we have.  We need commercial properties to subsidize our residents.  This is common in our comparable towns.  Comparable towns generally have 85% of the taxes paid by residents, and 15% paid by commercial properties.  As the % of taxes paid by residents increases above that 85%, it becomes more and more difficult to maintain services without increasing taxes beyond the 2 ½% limit..

 

So how is Westford doing?  Not good.  Several years ago, Westford was at 86% residential taxes.  Every year that has increased, and is now at 90% (almost 91%).  Yikes!  We are further about to convert some of our commercial property into residential property (the MBTA Zoning) which will further put this balance out-of-whack.

 What can Westford do?  We have nearly empty office buildings all along Littleton Rd.  We are also very conveniently right off a major highway, and are also right on the edges of a huge biotech industry which is eager to re-shore manufacturing.  We should consider rezoning to allow for pharmaceutical/biotech manufacturing.  If we did, it could bring not only increased tax revenue, but also well paying jobs.

 

4. Bring Diversity of Thought to Our Boards and Committees

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Why is diversity of thought important?  Simply put, no one person has all the answers.  Any group of people that start from the same set of viewpoints and experiences is unlikely to find the best solution to any problem.  

​How many issues have the town boards voted on in recent years, often unanimously, only to have the issue rejected at Town Meeting?  

Diversity of thought will lead to boards and committees asking the tough questions and exploring lower cost options to meet objectives.  Can we meet the needs of the soccer field at Nutting for less than $2,000,000?  Are there options to provide the Highway Dept with a bucket truck for less than $250,000?  Can we implement a vehicle sharing process such that the town does not need to purchase as many vehicles?  Can we bring school busing in-house to save several hundreds of thousands of dollars per year?   $50,000 here, $200,000 there, and soon enough the town will find that there is enough money to go around.  But we will never get there if the people on these boards and committees do not ask those questions and explore lower cost options.

 

5. Provide our schools with the resources needed to be the best they can be.

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Some people may wonder why the schools are # 5 in this priority list.  It seems counterintuitive from someone still with kids in the school system.  Here's why: 

It is the School Committee that sets spending priorities and policy for the school district.  The Superintendent answers to them.  A primary role of the Select Board with respect to the schools is to provide the School Committee with the financial resources needed to fulfill their mission.

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By focusing first on the other priorities, more funds will become available for the School Committee to meet their needs.

• Smart spending, implementing level-service cost savings.

• Smart commercial growth, attracting biotech and other businesses to fill our empty commercial real estate.

• Smart residential growth, adjusting zoning to give the town leverage and encourage lower-cost ownership options.

• Greater breadth of experience and viewpoints in town governance, leading to better decision making.