The Edgartown selectmen are threatening to withdraw from the Martha’s Vineyard Commission amid ongoing complaints about whether the town is paying more than its fair share of the commission’s annual budget.
James Joyce, the town’s appointed representative to the commission, told selectmen at their weekly meeting on Monday that the town should pull out of the commission until the formula used to calculate the assessments to the six towns is changed. The formula is based on equalized property valuations. The town’s projected MVC assessment for the upcoming fiscal year is $302,674.
“It’s time we think about getting out of the commission only because we can’t afford it,” Mr. Joyce said. “We fund the commission . . . I just don’t think we’re being treated fairly up there.”
The commission was established by an act of the state legislature in 1974; the assessment formula is set by statute. As the largest among the six towns in terms of both geography and property values, Edgartown pays the largest annual assessment to the commission, followed by Chilmark.
Mr. Joyce said he believed a formula that was half based on equalized valuations and half based on population would be more equitable. And to achieve that goal, he suggested a stick rather than a carrot.
“How do we go about trying to correct that? It might be best to try and get out of the commission; it’d be easier to force them to do something,” Mr. Joyce said, adding that the other towns probably would not want the formula to change because it would mean they would have to pay more.
All three selectmen said the idea sounded good to them.
“Maybe Jim’s concept is a good idea to approach it. I agree with him,” said selectman Arthur Smadbeck said. “That may be the only approach.” Chairman Margaret Serpa agreed that “sending a strong message” may be the way to go.
“The residents of Edgartown, they want protection of the commission, that’s why we’re there,” selectman Michael Donaroma said. “Right now things are slow and we have good protection in our own government. Taking a break, there’s no fear to not have their protection . . . This would be the time to seriously think about it.”
Edgartown currently has two development projects under review by the commission, one to expand the Wave Lengths salon on Upper Main street and subdivision for the Chasin property on Chappaquiddick.
Mr. Joyce also criticized the commission’s draft budget which proposes a 4.5 per cent pay increase for commission staff, two per cent based on merit and two and a half per cent for a cost of living adjustment.
Edgartown’s complaints about the commission’s budget are not new. A year and a half ago the selectmen, unhappy with the commission’s budget, singled out the town assessment as an override question on the annual town ballot. Since the assessment was mandatory, the move was painted as a symbolic gesture, but it later caused headaches when it turned out that money to pay the assessment had not been set aside in the town budget. A special town meeting was required to correct the problem.
And Edgartown has a long and sometimes stormy history when it comes to leaving the commission. In 1978 the town withdrew after a bitter fight over the rules surrounding districts of critical planning concern (DCPCs). By 1984 old wounds had healed and political landscapes had changed and the town rejoined the regional land use commission again.
MVC executive director Mark London said this week that he hopes the selectmen do not follow through on the threat.
“The commission is in many ways an insurance policy for the whole Island,” Mr. London said in a telephone interview. “The commission has regulatory authority that goes well beyond what the towns can do. It’s had a lot to do with keeping Martha’s Vineyard the way it is today . . . It’s not only the projects that the commission has dealt with, but the projects that never see the light of day because they know they would have to go through the commission process.”
Mr. London said the commission budget is in a very early draft stage and final assessment numbers will likely not be available until January.
But Mr. Joyce held fast to his idea.
“If we get out of the commission and they restructure the payment plan so it’s more equitable, then we’ll gladly go back in,” he said after the meeting. “I just don’t see any other way. We can’t afford to keep paying the lion’s share of the commissions cost. It has to stop somewhere.”
He concluded: “I don’t want to be out of the commission and they’re good for the Island . . . but this seems like the quicker process for us to get out and come back in under better terms, rather than change the charter.”
This article appears in November 5, 2010.
The most useless group of parasites on Martha’s Vineyard. People work too hard to pay a 4.5 per cent pay increase for commission staff, two per cent based on merit and two and a half per cent for a cost of living adjustment to sit around and do nothing that the towns can’t do for themselves. A 2 per cent MERIT PAY??
I think it would of been nice to let the readers know that the average the other 5 towns pay to the MVC is $105k and that Edgartown is over $300k this is what I am talking about. Also it is the population that drives issues to the MVC it is not the size or value of your town that does this.
7% pay INCREASE FOR WHAT!! For this we get the Bradley Square fiasco. It’s interesting to see and read how the parasites all stick together a total waste of tax payer money on both ends. No conflict of interest here.
Could it be that the legislation written in 1974 needs to be examined? Could it be that the Island culture has changed since 1974? Could it be that old policy design simply needs to be changed?
Interestingly, another piece of legislation (federal) was written in 1974… on wiretapping… which is also in much need of being re-written because of abuse and years of complex advancements in society and that Big Brother has grown, unchecked. Similarly, the Vineyard has changed and grown in a complex manner and similarly, it appears that there is an amount of perceived social control that is dictated by the MV Commission, composed of good people who do good things for this community. But to the average Joe on the street, could it be that the Commission seems like Big Brother?
If legislation needs to be re-written, then it needs to be re-written. Could it be time for the end of the Commission and the beginning of a bit more trust in local government officials?
You are going to have to forgive my ignorance as we just moved to the island in May of this year. Solving problems in the newspaper by threatening what appears to be extortion, and what appears to be a very one-sided story is probably not the best use of anyone’s time, or print for that matter. However, it does appear that Edgartown pays for than its fair share for the MVC, but from what I can see, that’s how it has been done since 1974 when the commission first came about and came up with a formula. I wanted to educate myself on the facts so i spent a considerable amount of time on the commission web site (www.mvcommission.org) as well as a site that speaks to population, median house prices, median income etc… relative to Dukes County (www.city-data.com). The age old problem of inequality, or “rich vs. poor” is at the heart of this issue. Unfortunately, or fortunately, the tax base which is mostly driven by real estate taxes based on assessed values funds most of the islands needs including the Martha’s Vineyard Commission. Edgartown’s values also happen to be approximately 2.5 times that of OB, West Tis, and Tisbury respectively. (Values are as follows: Aquinnah 597M, Chilmark 2.9B, Edgartown 6.1B, Gosnold 245M, OB 2.79B, Tisbury 2.7B, and West Tisbury 2.5B). What Mr. Joyce (who also happens to be an elected commissioner on the MVC) is suggesting by proposing a new metric based on property values and population is the following increase/decrease(based on 2010 budget): Aquinnah 17% decrease (22k vs.26.5k), Chilmark 33% decrease(86k vs.129K), Edgartown 13% decrease(237K vs.274K), Gosnold 5% increase($7,400 vs 7k), OB 29% increase(160.5k vs. 124.5k),Tisbury 30% increase(158K vs. 121k),and West Tisbury 9% increase (123.7K vs.113.4K). Clearly Edgartown is heavily burdened, but by asking for 9 to 30% increases from the other towns is also not fair. I like the fact that there is a proposed solution on the table, but threatening to leave the commission is not the answer because we have all benefitted from the commissions hard work despite what John Gault says. I have been coming here since 1970, and yes the Vineyard has grown, and changed, but relative to some of the other resort destinations, i.e. Cape Cod, not that much. We have the commission and environmentally conscious neighbors to thank for that, including people like Mr.Joyce, and Mark London. So let’s put the swords down, and sit down like our founding father’s did and come up with an equitable solution for all. Not speaking for my West Tisbury neighbors, I would be willing to pay more on my taxes to support the commission (assuming of course the assessed value of my home increases). As for the pay raises, I would say this:There should be a freeze on any increases. There were increases in 2010, and 2009 in a time when unemployment is at record highs, and Vineyarders are struggling to make ends meet. If anything, we should be looking at all cost cutting measures, including a reduction in staff.Everything should be on the table! In the mean time, “it’s us against them, or else” doesn’t work in our community – sorry!
instead of mr hunter-gault calling the kettle black by calling good hard working people parisites he could have his house boys take some of his burden away and do something for oak bluffs himself? what a novel idea getting involved to make change instead of casting stones…..
About time someone came forward and tried to correct the problem of the MVC. At one time it was more needed than it is now. They waste all there time on wind issues in the sound and in the end no one wants to build where they may or may not have control anyways. No one likes to be treated unfairly and if Mr. Joyce’s facts are correct he and the town make a great case to get out. It maybe time to downsize the commission to cut costs as the importance of the MVC is waning.