Worcester Business Journal

18 Worcester Business Journal | September 17, 2018 | wbjournal.com F O C U S B A N K I N G & F I N A N C E Health New England is right here for you, because we're right here with you, along with so many of your neighbors in Worcester and throughout central and western Massachusetts. We provide local health plans for thousands of the region's small and large businesses, individuals and families. We have a health plan that's right for you. healthnewengland.org/worcester | (855) 460-0570 We're Right Here For You Some towns have worked to pay down long-term costs while times are good. Shrewsbury, for example, plans to have its pension obligations fully covered by fiscal 2020. e town has contributed roughly $5 million a year to- ward those costs, Town Manager Kevin Mizikar said. Shrewsbury has worked to ensure that savings are about 4 percent of the oper- ating budget, the manager said. "We certainly have been meeting that, and will look to move toward some stronger financial policies this fall," Mizikar said, alluding to a proposal to direct even more money to savings. Acton has reduced its OPEB liabilities by nearly half since 2013, while in Mil- ford, the stabilization fund has grown to nearly one-quarter of the operating budget, or around $25 million, a more than tripling in the past decade. "It was a lot of change in ideology," said Zachary Taylor, who became the town's first finance director just aer the recession and has guided Milford toward higher savings levels since. Each year, Milford puts $5 million toward pension costs and a smaller amount, roughly $600,000 per year, toward OPEB costs. It keeps excess levy amounts, which allows the town to in- crease its tax revenue if needed without a tax override, Taylor said. Forecasting a recession As for when the economy may dip back into a recession and the rainy-day funds will be needed, there isn't yet any consensus, of course. "I've been expecting recessions for the past three years, and it hasn't happened," said Ng, who also runs his own financial advisory business, Woodland Investment Consulting. Real gross domestic product increased 4.2 percent in the second quarter of 2018. But even with the longest bull market on record, economists still try determining when growth will slow. "You always don't see it until it hap- pens, but I don't see anything emerging as a threat" to the current run of growth, said Robert Nakosteen, a business professor at UMass Amherst's Isenberg School of Management. at includes the country's bur- geoning trade war with China and other nations, Nakosteen said, which he believes is more likely to hurt individual companies or sectors than the economy as a whole. "It would be very surprising if it led us into a recession," he said. Acton Overall tax revenue 40.9% $24,220,004 Commercial & industrial tax revenue 8.9% $646,796 Fitchburg Overall tax revenue 47.0% $16,453,574 Commercial & industrial tax revenue 51.8% $3,174,210 Framingham Overall tax revenue 33.4% $47,175,561 Commercial & industrial tax revenue 33.0% $16,127,003 Franklin Overall tax revenue 52.3% $25,436,313 Commercial & industrial tax revenue 34.0% $3,074,603 Hudson Overall tax revenue 64.0% $20,220,781 Commercial & industrial tax revenue 37.1% $3,218,599 Leominster Overall tax revenue 55.1% $24,444,445 Commercial & industrial tax revenue 47.2% $3,645,833 Marlborough Overall tax revenue 23.7% $17,927,196 Commercial & industrial tax revenue 17.1% $5,385,616 Milford Overall tax revenue 39.7% $18,356,724 Commercial & industrial tax revenue 51.2% $6,128,777 Shrewsbury Overall tax revenue 60.5% $27,769,867 Commercial & industrial tax revenue 71.9% $3,535,280 Worcester Overall tax revenue 54.1% $103,020,529 Commercial & industrial tax revenue 81.9% $41,115,210 Source: Massachusetts Department of Revenue From 2008 to 2018, property and personal property tax revenue has risen drastically in the largest Central Massachusetts communities. Rising tax collections % growth Dollar growth Municipality 2008-2018 2008-2018 W Continued from previous page

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