Wednesday, January 25, 2006

The Numbers Are In

And Fitchburg does OK, depending on your point of view.

On the local aid side, Fitchburg does about as well as can be expected, going from $8,391,000 to $10,238,000, an increase of 22 percent, well above Romney's across-the-board 17 percent increase.

On the education aid side, the numbers aren't quite as strong. Chapter 70 jumps from $36,443,000 to $38,443,000. That's a 5 percent increase. While that's a positive, the new education aid formula is supposed to favor poorer communities. Without deeper study, it seems Fitchburg should have done better there.

Still 5 percent is a decent increase, and perhaps should be the focal point for further help as local officials and lawmakers poke through this budget. On the local aid side, an additional $2 million is a strong result, in our view.

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