libraries

Last month, we learned about how Bridgewater is expanding the hours of operation for its library and senior center during a time when many other communities are cutting services and laying off staff.  It was refreshing for me to learn about Dover, another community that has come together to make its public library an even better place than it used to be.

“The people here value their library,’’ said Cheryl Abdullah, the Dover library’s director. “It’s amazing to see. People use the library as a tool of the community.’’ Abdullah credits the Friends of the Library, a support organization, with raising awareness and money.

“In Massachusetts, state funding for libraries was cut from about $33 million in fiscal year 2008-2009 to about $24 million last year. The state funding this fiscal year is about $21 million, according to the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.”

Despite the cuts in the library system, the Dover community has not slowed down in supporting its library and kept it afloat through its efforts.

Difficult economic times are also an opportunity for our state to come together as an community to learn about what we value in our cities and towns, and to decide how we pay for the services and structures we all care about. Civic engagement efforts across the state are playing a key role in helping our friends and neighbors understand both the role of government in our lives, and our own roles in supporting initiatives and reforming the way we provide for services in our state.

Let's hope that we keep hearing about more and more communities that are supporting their public structures the way we've seen residents coming together in Bridgewater and Dover. If you know of other communities please do not hesitate to contact us!

Today's and yesterday's Boston Globe highligt an estimated $25 million a year the state gives in questionable tax breaks to businesses aimed at economic development.

The Massachusetts Economic Development Incentive Program is part of $1.7 billion in tax breaks the state gives out every year that are aimed at economic development (for more on these breaks, check out the Mass. Budget & Policy Center report).

While Legislative leadership has been reluctant to raise revenues, it's hard to fathom how our cities and towns will absorb the cuts that will come from an expected 5 percent reduction in Local Aid.

In communities across the state libraries are closing or scaling back their hours, police and fire fighters are facing lay offs, and the essential city services that keep communities functioning are imperiled.

Legislators have been working to make the businesses that receive tax credits from the state more accountable. Last year, the Revenue Committee passed a bill that would have required businesses receiving tax credits to issue annual reports detailing the job creation they commit to when applying for the tax credits.

While the bill did not pass this year, there is growing awareness of the numerous loopholes in the state's tax code. Now more than ever, our elected officials must weigh these tax expenditures against the cuts they're making in our communities.