May 16, 2024  |  Al Fazi

To the Editor:

There seems to be too much talk about the legal ruling from the Town Attorney (the law firm contracted by the Town) to decide the fate of the “tied portion of the budget.”

If you are in the “Vote No Group,” you are only allowed to read Section 7.5 of the Town Charter. The rest of the pages of the Town Charter have been torn out, or so it seems.

The Town government apparently had the wisdom to foresee possible problems specifically concerning “budgeting” and decided to further clarify “what happens when a budget is rejected.”

If you dare to venture further and read Section 9-7 a, b, c of the Town Charter (do so in the privacy of your own home. Don’t let anyone know you can think for yourself), you will find a specific procedure to follow when the “Budget or any component of the Budget” is rejected or not approved and YES, a tie vote means just that. The budget was “not approved.”

Per Section 9-7, that component of the “unapproved” budget is to be sent back to the BOF for their review and consideration. After the BOF reconsideration, they send the amended budget back to the voters for their approval or rejection. If approved, it ends there. If rejected, that component of the budget goes back to the BOF again. They can cut the new proposed number, or they can raise that number, even restoring the original, pre ATBM number. If rejected again, this process will continue to happen over and over, vote after vote, until it is finally approved, that is, until July 1st.

What happens after July 1st? The process of voting again and again will continue until the budget is finally approved but with one provision. On July 1st, the budget number from the prior fiscal year will be put in place and funded by your tax dollars at that level. Keep in mind, the prior fiscal year budget is higher than the newly revised BOF budget being presented for your vote on May 18th. How will that affect your wallet?

I will be voting “YES” on May 18th.

—  Al Fazi