Over the next 12-24 months, the excess tax levy will disappear and the budget submitted by the City Administration will exceed the maximum revenues that can be collected under Proposition 2 1/2.    The annual rite of fall, after the election, when the City Council decides how to split the  budget between the resident and commercial property owners, will be replaced by budget cuts.     Imaging that, a City Council actually having to make budget cuts!!!

Until our day of reckoning, the City Council has 3 options to avoid this crisis:

  1. Start making cuts now to avoid the day of reckoning.    Why do we have an administration on Irving Street that runs the School Department and the same identical Administration on Main Street that runs the City of Worcester?  Maybe we should combine them..  We bet you could literally take 10% off the entire budget and nobody would notice.
  2. Look for ways to increase the tax base.  Remember the Philly Plan that could target underutilized commercial parcels by offering to lock in the current assessed value for ten years, waive all permitting fees and water/sewer connection fees??  In Worcester we could actually call it the Hanover Theater treatment.
  3. Try to squeeze more money from the existing tax-payers and avoid 1) and 2).    Talk about PILOT payments from the non-profits or taxation of multi-unit properties that are not owner-occupied, raise all existing fees and increase water/sewer rates.        Although it sounds easy to to complain about non-profits not paying property taxes, can anyone imagine where the City of Worcester would be without the colleges and hospitals??

Even if we were to opt for #3 and we were to get a PILOT payments from the non-profits or tax multi-units non-owner occupied properties,  it would only postpone the inevitable and not address the problem.   The City of Worcester’s expenses are going to exceed the maximum amount of revenues that they can raise even if we were to collect more revenues from the existing base.   Are we saying that we need to cut costs (#1) to avoid this impending crisis.  If we were to cut costs,   it will only delay the inevitable.

The only way to truly survive and flourish, the City of Worcester needs to increase the commercial tax base or at least solidify the residential tax base (#2), which is 100% directly related to the success (or failure) of the school system.   Neither of which is happening right now.        Sadly we are 100% confident that the City Council will focus on #3 and the day of reckoning will surely happen over the next 12-24 months.

Stay tuned for more talk about PILOT payment and taxing non-owner occupied residential housing commercially (#3).     There will be no talk about how to offer innovative programs (#2) like the City of Boston did to attract GE to fully realize the potential of currently under-utilized commercial properties scattered though out the City of Worcester or cost cutting ideas (#1).