2010 Town Meeting
It’s that time of year again. Come March we are going to be asked to approve $2,529,451.00 operating budget. This budget represents a 3.3% increase over last year’s approved budget. The default budget is a 1% increase. Personally, I would have expected the budget to be cut or at least frozen in these uncertain times. People are losing their jobs, wages are being frozen, and everyone is curring back — except for the government.
After the swollen operating budget, the most troubling warrant is Article 2010-18. The town is asking for $190,000 to purchast five acres on Main Street, but that is only the tip of the iceberg. This land is currently taxable. Purchasing the land will reduce the tax base and increase every other taxpayer’s share of the budget. Worse, the land is being purchased for a new police station. We don’t need a new police station and we cannot afford one. I have been trying to renew my burn permit since the beginning of the year and BELIEVE ME there is no overcrowding problem at the safety complex.
How about we move the police department into town hall? Move the town clerk and the tax collector into the first floor of the library and let the police and fire department use their offices. Right away you could eliminate the extra librarian who is required to monitor activity on the first floor. As a bonus, you could read magazines books or use the computers while waiting to get your business attended to.
I would encourage all to vote no on warrants to set aside money for this new police station as well as a new salt storage facility. On both counts, the town should be looking at partnering with neighboring communities to achieve efficiencies. If Plaistow, Atkinson, Sandown, and Danville can cooporate on schools, why can’t we collaborate on safety, roads, and tax administration? And why can’t we share a public library or at least a Director of Public Libraries?
I’ll post all the warrants as soon as they are available. I’m editing as much of the budget discussion as was aired. Links will be posted with here. Hold onto your wallets!
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Concerned parent of two children in the TRSD school system who pays taxes and is not employed by -- or contracted to -- the town or the SAU...one of the Rest of Us