This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.

Can Do Better

In looking at the budget referendum results, I was struck by the fact that such a small number of voters (about nine percent of the registered total) decided on an issue of fundamental importance to the town.

To illustrate, 1,189 of us decided a combined $81,885,644 budget, giving each vote a relative value of $68,869 ($107,321 if you only count the 763 “Yes” votes). My own household, with two adults who voted “Yes,” can thus be thought of as having a $214,641 share in this process—a figure dozens of times higher than our annual property tax bill.

I know that our town can do better, having witnessed the lines at the polls last Nov. 8. Remember that while the federal and state-level elections are important, it’s the local elections that determine who runs our town and its schools, who draws up the budget—and also who sets the mill rates.

Rick Bungiro

Madison