Melrose Taxpayers' Alliance Re-invigorated

The Melrose Taxpayers’ Alliance was established in 2015 to represent the taxpayers of Melrose against irresponsible and unnecessary taxation. In 2015 we fought hard for you the taxpayers against the proposed override and we prevailed. Once again we are faced with an override and this time it is more than double the last override.

Proponents will have you believe that if this override does not pass, Melrose will have significant cuts to critical services, our seniors will suffer, our public safety will suffer, our schools will suffer; however, these are scare tactics. Since the last override failed, our students and schools have flourished, our City has been named one of the best places to live in the USA. Melrose is the hottest zip code, and our home values have soared. We did this all without an override.

The Melrose Taxpayers’ Alliance is here to fight again for you, the taxpayers, against an irresponsible override. For the past two fiscal years, the total amount spent on school salary’s has increased as follows: FY 18-19 at 4.5% including 6.5 new positions and FY 17-18 at 4% including 4.5 new positions (source: final school budgets)

Did you know that according to the Department of Education, the Melrose teacher retention rate is 87%? An 87% retention rate would indicate our teachers are not leaving in droves as the other side would have you believe.

We hear that we have the lowest per pupil spending, yet our students are achieving high results. OneMelrose cites on its literature that Stoneham, Malden, Saugus and Wakefield pay more per pupil. However, all those schools are ranked below Melrose on the Boston Magazine ranking list of the 125 Best Public School Districts. Melrose ranked 62 ahead of our neighbors of Stoneham (#71), Wakefield (#75), Woburn (#83), Medford (#89), Saugus (#106) and Malden (#116). More money does not correlate to better outcomes. (https://www.bostonmagazine.com/best-school-districts-boston-2017-chart/).

We were told that the modular classrooms would cover our enrollment needs for the next 5 years yet after less than 2 years we need more space. We were told by Mayor Dolan that we could not recapture the Beebe school because of the cost of renovating the school and the loss of revenue, yet here we are less than 2 years later looking to recapture the Beebe school

The Melrose Taxpayers’ Alliance works to ensure your tax dollars are spent in a fiscally responsible manner. The vote on April 2nd is a very important one, and our short-term goal is to educate you, the Melrose taxpayer, about this ballot question. Please visit our website at www.melrosetaxpayers.org and like us on Facebook to learn more.