Island Escapes Deep Cuts In Aid to Towns, Schools

By MANDY LOCKE

On the last day of the session, state legislators finally approved a
five-month overdue budget slated to trim $650 million from the
commonwealth's spending. But the sweeping cuts in the $22.25
billion state budget did not dip drastically into local Vineyard aid for
towns and schools.

"It could have been worse," said Cape and Islands Rep.
Eric T. Turkington Wednesday morning, after having studied the budget
proposal for less than a day.

House Speaker Thomas Finneran and Senate President Thomas
Birmingham, along with House and Senate ways and means chairmen, have
battled through budget line-items behind closed doors for the last 144
days. Wednesday's legislative approval resolves a budget for a
fiscal year that officially began July 1.

With a $1.4 billion deficit to close, the public - along with
state legislators - could only speculate what areas would be hit
the hardest before the budget was finally agreed upon Tuesday at
midnight.

Chapter 70 money - education money designated to local towns
- remained untouched. Vineyard towns will receive the same amounts
estimated in the preliminary budget in the spring. While full allocation
of Chapter 70 money for the current school year is certainly good news
for the school committee, it does not fill in any blanks for the
2002-2003 school budget they are currently preparing.

"That's about as good as it gets in the budget
world," Mr. Turkington said.

State aid to towns did not decrease from the previous year,
Representative Turkington said, but Vineyard towns may not receive as
much money as they planned for this fiscal year. The state Department of
Revenue gives Massachusetts municipalities estimates of state money to
include in their budget process in the spring of each year. But the
Department of Revenue released those figures before state revenues
dropped in July and plummeted in September, forcing the state
legislature to account for the mounting deficit.

Funds each town receives from the state lottery fell this year. But
this drop means about $33 less for Aquinnah, $74 less for Chilmark and
$962 less for Edgartown, hardly affecting their multi-million-dollar
budgets.

The new budget also slashes Chapter 90 money - cash given to
town highway departments for local projects - by $32 million. The
impact of that cut on Vineyard towns is still uncertain.

Plans for an additional probation officer in the Edgartown District
Court were pulled from the revised budget - evidence of the $30
million worth of cuts in the state court system.

Language which would require state human service divisions to give
special attention to the Island's high cost of living when making
allocations remained in the budget.

A request for funds for shellfish propagation on the Vineyard and
Nantucket stayed in the budget, but was slashed from $100,000 to
$50,000.

One hundred thousand dollars for a Lyme disease program at the
Barnstable County Health Department - which also aids patients of
the two Islands - stayed in the budget as well.

While reductions in any measure bear bad news, Island towns escaped
any devastating pinches this year.

The fact that state aid accounts for such small portions of local
town budgets - around 5 per cent - also minimizes the
effect.

"For our towns, state aid is not a big piece of the
pie," Mr. Turkington said.

While Island municipal and school budgets remain relatively intact,
the Island community will not be immune to state budget cuts.

"There are clearly some areas in which Island people, not
necessarily municipalities, will be affected in negative ways,"
Representative Turkington said, noting that Martha's Vineyard
Hospital, Martha's Vineyard Community Services and Family Planning
will inevitably have to cut budgets.

Ned Robinson-Lynch, executive director of Martha's Vineyard
Community Services, said his family of agencies will not know until the
beginning of next year exactly how hard the human service budget cuts
will hit their programming. Their allocations come through state
divisions such as the Department of Mental Health and the Department of
Education. So far, Community Services is preparing for a loss of about
$100,000.

"Health care and social services are bracing for a real
cut," Mr. Robinson-Lynch said.

The legislature will meet again Dec. 5 to vote on overrides of any
line-item vetoes from acting governor Jane Swift.