dismay with finance committee

[scott]

I am dismayed with the Warrant and Finance Committee after having witnessed review of the road budget and hearing about others. Apparently, the entire buget review process that Acton has relied on for years has been discarded. For instance, the Board of Selectmen would normally work with various departments to develop each budget before review. It looks like to me that each department is bringing their numbers directly to the Finance Committee with only review by the Treasuser. Even so, I being alarmed hearing comments like "these numbers don't seem to add up" by the committee. Is there going to be any regard given for what these numbers represent? Are we going to be voting numbers at Town Meeting that effectively have no review but "add up"??

To the Warrent and Finance Committee members - you have a responsibility to the public to review and recommend articles including budgets to be voted on. Excluding Selectmen from proper review and "rubber stamping" budgets when the numbers add up is not what the public expects.

[scott]

If I got this straight, the numbers showing up on the warrant will be (more or less):

school budget - ($)2007/8 school budget + 30%
road budget - ($) 2007/8 road budget + 50%
admin budget - ($)2007/8 admin budget + 50%
other budgets ($)2007/8 budget + 0%

so Will this result in a 35% (more or less) tax increase??

In my mind, the Finance Committee needs to:
(1) recognize that the public needs 0% or less budget increases
(2) reconcile why our school budget substantially exceeds the state average while our educational results are equal.
(3) understand why it costs Acton taxpayers twice as much as it costs for other town to plow their roads
(4) bring bidet recommendations to Town Meeting that can be properly considered and informatively voted
(5) bring a 0% increase budget recommendation to Town Meeting