Next Year's Budget - Conservative?

Reading the Bangor Daily News the past few days (and thanks to Glenna for the promotions to this blog!) I've seen where several small towns are proposing 2009-2010 budgets that will be lower than the 2008-2009. It will be interesting to see what our illustrious group has come up with. I certainly don't expect it to be lower.

Public Hearings are scheduled for March 3 and 17.

Of course if this year is like last year, they'll use a different format to track the budget at the Public Hearings than the format that will be used at the Town Meeting where folks will vote on the budget. Makes it more difficult to follow what is discussed and disputed (and errors, too) at the Public Hearing. Of course, even noting errors at the Public Hearing (and receiving guarantees that they'll be corrected) is like talking a foreign language at a Town Meeting where the format and public has already been printed.

Maybe that's why so few people show up at the Public Hearings. They know any input or discussion or disagreement (not to mention errors) will fall on deaf ears. That's probably why the Chair stated at the Jan. 2009 Selectmen's meeting that she hoped this year's Town Meeting wouldn't be a repeat of last year's - when yours truly stood up more than once to ask questions and challenge what was being pushed down our throats - a $100,000 contract for snow removal and sanding for 11 miles(!) guaranteed regardless of how much snowfall. (See earlier blogs.)

The first vote was successful at least. By the third vote, people had left or given up. Interesting that the person who put up the motion was somehow related to a Selectmen (what she later told me).

But with the attempt to have NO discussion even at the Town Meeting, it's no wonder people have given up on this town. Just rubber stamp votes is all that's wanted/expected.