PUBLIC HEARINGS IN PREPARATION FOR UPCOMING TOWN MEETING - 2011/2012 TOWN BUDGET

There will be two Public Hearings at the Town Office, March 8 and 15, during which the Town Manager and Board of Selectmen will be going over the proposed 2011-2012 Town Budget.

Based on this writer's previous experiences, it's a good idea for voters to attend BOTH Public Hearings. Frequently, issues are raised at the first meeting that need to be corrected or "fixed." Depending on whether or not the materials for the Town Meeting have already gone out for printing at the time of the Public Hearing, those corrections may not show up in the Town Meeting documents. Unless the voters actually know about the errors or corrections needed, they may not point them out and require the changes before voting.

The same issues need to be addressed at the second Public Hearing because there may be people in attendance who were not at the first Public Hearing - for the same reasons.

The Public Hearings are the ONLY opportunity to hear the explanations and understand the proposed budget and individual line items in the different sections. This is particularly important because the format used at the Public Hearing is not the same as the one used for the Town Meeting when the voting takes place. And there is no explanation and discussion provided at the Town Meeting UNLESS THE PEOPLE INSIST on them.

This is why voters should like to take their "crib notes" from the Public Hearing to the Town Meeting. Town Meeting is all about how YOUR tax money is going to be spent, people.

AS A SIDE NOTE: It would be wonderful if the candidates for the School Board were in attendance at both Public Hearings - even more so if they were given the opportunity AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MEETING (because no one sticks around for the last five minutes) to introduce themselves and give a brief presentation. Of course people may need to really push the idea on the Selectmen (and the Chair in particular) to do this. But it will be the ONLY OPPORTUNITY for the largest number of people (the only gathering of people inclined to vote) to "meet the candidates."

What harm can a little civic responsibility do where so few actually turn out and vote in a local election? The vote at the Town Meeting and the vote to accept (or reject) the school budget are the ONLY TWO VOTES where town residents directly decide where their tax money is going to be spent and how much tax money is going to be collected.

You can turn out to vote for the President of the United States but how much direct impact do you really have on what that person does? Minute. Your vote for your local town budget and school district budget is as close as you will ever have in making a real tax/fiscal difference.

Think about it. Become informed on the issues and costs. Then - VOTE.