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Fact check: No tax refunds for remote learning

  • Posted by The Burbs (Sponsor: North End Motor Sales) November 25, 2020 - Filed in News - 2,318 views

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    Daderot, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

    The check is not in the mail.

    Despite rumors to the contrary, residents will not be receiving a tax refund for a supposed reduction in services caused by schools moving to remote learning.

    The rumors has been making the rounds, but the Town of Holden posted about it on Facebook Tuesday morning. Rather than address it outright, though, it kicked the can to the Wachusett Regional School District School Committee 

    "We have received a number of inquiries regarding a tax "refund" due to reductions in school services as part of remote learning," the post reads. "Please understand that the Wachusett Regional School District budget is set at the Annual Town Meeting. The amount of money allocated at that time, approved by the voters at Town Meeting, is the amount that the Town owes the school district for the fiscal year. The Town Manager has no legal authority to change, amend or alter that dollar amount in any way. The WRSD Administration and WRSD School Committee are entirely in charge of crafting and implementation of the WRSD budget. If you have questions about the current or future WRSD budget, please contact your local School Committee representative(s). https://www.wrsd.net/school_commit…/school_committee_members"

    There is at this time no state plan for refunds for remote learning.

    The origin of a tax refund for remote learning is not clear, but it may have been proposed by the conservative Heritage Foundation, which in May published a piece titled "School Districts Owe Taxpaying Parents a COVID-19 Refund."

    The Commonwealth itself is already facing "a spending gap that falls anywhere from $2.7 billion to $5.33 billion, the Department of Revenue told lawmakers Wednesday," according to an article on MassLive. That shortfall reduces the amount of state aid for schools. In August, in fact, the Worcester Public Schools district faced a $15.5 million budget reduction, according to MassLive.

    This makes the prospect of a refund for a reduction of services range from seriously unlikely to impossible.

    What else is happening in and around Worcester? Click here or keep scrolling ⤵️

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