Group suggests reimbursement solution
By Ken Powers Contributing Writer

Northborough - With the help of its town counsel, the Northborough Regional Reimbursement Working Group has come up with a recommendation that could lead to a solution in the disagreement between Northborough and Southborough regarding the regional school district allocation of the state grant for the Algonquin Regional High School project.

Town Administrator Barry Brenner presented the selectmen at their Nov. 26 meeting with a draft proposal asking the Regional School Committee to file a declaratory judgment action in Worcester Superior Court.

Brenner said it is his hope that the Southborough group working to resolve this issue will join Northborough in presenting this proposal to the Regional School Committee. The two working groups are scheduled to meet Monday Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. at Northborough Town Hall in the Selectmen's Meeting Room.

"The way we're proposing the declaratory judgment action to be filed, the Regional School Committee would be the plaintiff and Northborough and Southborough the defendants," Brenner said. "The Regional School Committee would not support either town's position as each town would file cross motions."

At the heart of the dispute is that the towns disagree on how the $25 million in reimbursement money from the state should be divided between the towns. Northborough believes language in Chapter 70B of the Massachusetts General Laws should be used, while Southborough believes the Regional School Agreement the two towns signed on to before construction began should be the governing document.

The two methods result in a diff erence of $1.5 million.

Brenner said the Northborough working group, which includes Brenner, Selectman Jeff Amberson, Town Treasurer June Hubbard-Ward, Financial Planning Committee member Jason Perreault and Appropriations Committee member Elaine Kelly, began thinking about alternative solutions after an October meeting between the two groups was fruitless.

"We essentially agreed that we weren't going to agree," Brenner said. "They had their view and we had ours. That's when we asked town counsel if they could suggest any other options and they suggested the declaratory judgment action."

The board expressed enthusiasm about Brenner's announcement.

"I think this is a wonderful solution," Selectman Fran Bakstran said. "It puts the issue in the hands of the Regional School Committee, but it takes the decision out of their hands."

Selectmen Chair Bill Pantazis said it was the sort of solution he believes all sides have been looking for.

"Each town will get their day, and their say, in court," Pantazis said. "Both sides will get to state their case and have a decision rendered, while at the same time the Regional School Committee is off the hook."

Other news coming out of the Nov. 26 meeting included the selectmen voting to maintain a single tax rate for the upcoming year for residential and commercial property owners, and the announcement by Assessor Arthur Holmes and Principal Assessor Diane O'Connor that the town estimates the average homeowner's tax bill will increase by about $200, or 3.8 percent.

O'Connor said the amount is an estimate because the town has not received the final figures from the state necessary to lock in the tax rate. She said the board's estimate, after reviewing the data available, is that the rate would increase from $12.39 per $1,000 of value to $13.28 per $1,000 of value.