Special Town Meeting • 11.17.11 • 7:30pm • Middle School
Elevator Version
~ Why Should I Care?
~ Letters & Links
Details
~ Frequently Asked Questions
The Details
Inspired by some of the unsettling findings in the Abrahams Report, a few town residents took it upon themselves to examine the town's budget more closely. In the course of doing so, they identified an enormous Free Cash reserve when compared with other Moody's AAA rated and peer towns. Other reserve funds total another $22,000,000 (see chart in yellow warrant booklet, page 22, appendix B). In consideration of an annual budget totaling "only" $70 million, they continued to dig deeper.
To be clear, there is NOT a $32 million excess or surplus that can be applied to tax relief. We certainly need to maintain a healthy cushion to meet unexpected demands as they arise. It's also important to note that not all of the $32 million is available to apply to tax relief. More than 2/3 of the money is in a number of dedicated accounts which in some cases by law can only be used for the purposes specified for that particular account, i.e., it cannot simply be moved to Free Cash.
Here's the breakdown:
Free Cash - $10.3 million
Other Accounts - $22 million
For purposes of this Article and of this Special Town Meeting, petitioners are only interested in applying tax relief using the surplus in the Free Cash fund. However, it is important to keep the other accounts in mind as well so that the argument cannot be made by the town that we can't take too much out of free cash because we may need it for water purposes. This fund and many others already have their own reserves. The town should not be double-dipping by maintaining healthy reserves in these other funds AND in Free Cash for the same purpose.