May 13 - Budget Referendum
6 a.m. to 8 p.m., Town Hall
Budget Details available at http://bolton.govoffice.com.
Dick Tuthill - May 14, 2008
First referendum results: No - 741; Yes - 392. So much for flying the budget under the radar. Now let the discussion begin. The boards can start by making their case right here in this forum.
Dick Tuthill - May 12, 2008
There has been very little online discussion so far this year. One wonders if this is a conscious effort to fly the budget below the radar in the hopes of catching the electorate asleep at the switch. We shall see.
As usual for a first attempt, this budget is way too high. To have the BoE budget go up by 6.6% in a year of school population decrease without some other significant cost driver like insurance, etc., is simply a huge disconnect. And for the Town budget to go up by 6.9% in a year of lower debt service expense is another disconnect.
We never seem to get serious about bringing forward a reasonable budget until after the third referendum. I suspect that this year will be the same.
David Rosicke - May 9, 2008
I hope nobody shoots down the contingency monies again. With the state struggling, other towns having to close schools in the middle of the year, and every economist I've read saying homeowners need a three-month minimum stash of cash, we as a town need to have money set aside for any issues that may arise. Obviously, three months' expenses at the town level sounds like WAY too much money (Last year they asked for $500,000 which is NOT three month's reserves!), which is why it always gets shot down. But all it takes is one major problem that is not a 'Disaster' as defined by the state and not covered by our Insurance and Bam! there goes the town - If we don't have reserves. An example of this is if fuel costs jump significantly - say 50 to 100% more than last year's budget. That could easily wipe out any reserve money before the budget year is over. I know that my heating fuel costs went up 34% in one year, even as I cut consumption by 17%.
Just my $.05 (Inflation, you know!)
