Who should pay for special services they get from the town and who should get them for free? This is the question raised by MEMO’s pending application to permit Medfield Day. This is the issue because the town provides to MEMO the services of the Medfield police and DPW employees that in turn both allow Medfield Day to occur and get cleaned up. The town does not charge for those services, even though MEMO makes enough money from Medfield Day to pay.
The questions I have raised are ones about essential fairness, first, what groups should pay the town for the cost of loaned town employees, and second, whether the town does this for all groups. If the town does not give free town services to all groups who ask, as I suspect, then is it fair to provide free services for one group and not for another? And how does the town decide which groups get the town employees to work for them for free and which groups have to pay?
I estimate the cost to the town of the overtime for the town employees who work to make Medfield Day happen at about $3-5,000. MEMO does not pay for those town services, so the town is effectively subsidizing MEMO’s Medfield Day by that amount. The amount is not large, but the principle is.
MEMO is not a charity, it is an association of businesses, akin to a chamber of commerce, whose stated purpose is to promote its member businesses. There is no question that MEMO is a great organization and that it runs great events for the town, at little or no cost. It was those great services to the town that caused me to become a MEMO member – that and the fact that getting eight dinners a year for the $100 membership fee was a bargain.
The issue is whether any group, including MEMO, should pay its fair share of the costs when it costs the town money for the group to put on its events. The last year I ran Medfield Day, about six years ago, MEMO made a profit of $18,000 from the event, and at the time MEMO members suggested using those profits to promote their member businesses. I have questioned whether the Medfield Day profits, that are only as large as they are because the town pays to provide MEMO with free labor, should be allowed to get plowed back into the MEMO member businesses or the subsidized dinners, or would it just be fairer to the town for MEMO to pay for whatever town services it uses.
At the last the Board of Selectmen meeting, we voted 2-1 to permit Medfield Day without charging MEMO for town services. I voted against it because I feel Medfield Day should be revenue neutral for the town – the town should continue to provide the services and MEMO should reimburse the town for the cost of those services. I am told prior that the vote can not stand because of conflict of interest issues, so that we will vote again tonight.
Tonight I am looking to learn how our town departments determine which groups may get free services, which do not, and how is that determination made. What follows is the email I sent this morning to the Chief of Police about his list from yesterday of all the groups for which the police provide special services.
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Chief,
Mike Sullivan had Evelyn forward to the Board of Selectmen your list of town events for which the police provide special services (copy attached). Thank you for putting that together. I still have a few questions.
For me the whole issue over MEMO’s payment or non-payment for the town’s costs of the services provided by town employees (police and highway) related to Medfield Day is really one of essential fairness, namely is MEMO asking for and getting special treatment that other groups in town do not get or do we treat all groups as we treat MEMO. From my own experience in putting on town events, I know that MEMO was not charged for town services in the past for town services provided at Medfield Day or its other events, whereas the Medfield Park & Recreation Commission was charged for police services at the Medfield Night Fireworks.
To determine the answer to the question posed above, the Selectmen need to know which events and which groups get charged and which do not get charged for town provided services. So to answer that question, we need to know of those events you provided on your list, what groups do pay for the additional police services you provided and what groups do not pay for police services for special events, and how that determination is made.
Therefore, to assist the Board of Selectmen in that evaluation, can you please indicate for us:
1 – What groups and/or events on your list pay for police services, and which do not?
2 – Which events are covered by police working their regular shifts, versus which require extra additional paid police shifts?
3 – How you make the determination of whom to charge and whom to not charge?
Thank you for your courtesies and assistance with this matter. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Best,
Pete
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Medfield02052's Blog 
Pete, I agree with you that the concept of fairness is important. Ultimately the way the town is structured, it seems it comes down to the Selectmen to decide if the event is in the best interest of the town as a whole then the subsidy would be worthwhile. In the case of Medfield Day, it is such a great event for the town and the residents that the subsidy is definitely worthwhile in my opinion. There are other events that happen in town where I would be more than happy to provide a subsidy as I value those events. The problem comes down to that subjective opinion – some events people would want subsidized and some they wouldn’t. An alternative structure could be any event where fees are charged, even when profits are going to charity, the group should pay for their costs. If the event is free and the town (via the Selectmen) decides to subsidize the event with discounted or free services, it would be through a decision to do so and not by default. Not easy issues to deal with but thanks for giving it a try.
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