Letter: There is light at end of dark budget tunnel

Posted 6/29/16

To the editor:

As I reflect on the recent budget season, I am filled with a number of disappointments.

Disappointed that Justin Katz was able to develop a petitioner budget which once again …

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Letter: There is light at end of dark budget tunnel

Posted

To the editor:

As I reflect on the recent budget season, I am filled with a number of disappointments.

Disappointed that Justin Katz was able to develop a petitioner budget which once again stripped the town of necessary funding to provide the services we have all grown to expect. Welcome to the 2016 Katz cuts.

Disappointed that so few of our Tiverton residents actually voted at the FTR. Of the approximately 11,335 registered voters in Tiverton, only 2,199 turned out to vote at the 2016 FTR.

When Mr. Katz reports that 55% of the voters chose his budget, know the real facts. The actual number of voters who chose the Katz budget was 1,220, out of 11,335 registered voters! That is a very small number of residents to decide our fiscal fate.

Disappointed that two of our elected Budget Committee members, Nancy Driggs and Donna Cook, collected signatures and stumped for the Katz budget, both in the press and in person at our local businesses and public hearings. They did this is a very public display, after voting with the Budget Committee on our final recommended budget. While these actions are not illegal, they are most certainly unethical.

And to top it off, Mrs. Cook failed to show for our June 14 Budget Committee meeting, our final, and most important meeting of the year. These are also the two responsible for the recently frivolous, and failed, Charter violation complaint that further wasted taxpayer money. Is this really what we should expect from our elected officials?

The Budget Committee, and the Town Council, have been put into the most unenviable position of having to balance the Katz budget by cutting nearly $1 million. Decisions were difficult and affect many areas. Mr. Katz will tell you that he provided recommendations for cuts. In reality, his suggestions placed the public at risk with cuts to health and public safety. His cuts were strategic in that none personally affected him.

I do see a light at the end of this dark tunnel. I see taxpayers becoming more enlightened, educated, and involved in the process. And thanks to recommendations by our town councilor, Dave Perry, desperately needed Charter changes are being discussed. Mr. Perry recommends to amend the number of signatures required for an alternate petition from the current requirement of 50 to 10% of the registered voters to place a petitioner budget onto the ballot.

He further recommends to limit the dollar amount of changes to $200,000 from the Budget Committee recommendation. These potential changes would certainly help to control the financial havoc the Katz budgets continue to cause in our town, as well as garner more respect of our budget process at the state level.

Deborah Scanlon Janick

Budget Committee

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