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A Prime Priority

We attended the joint board meeting on March 5, which was a public hearing on the proposed budget for the Town of Madison. Part of the recommendation was a 25 percent cut in operating funds for the Scranton Library.

While we all recognize the difficult position of coming up with a responsible budget in these times when we cannot count on any funds from our state government, such a cut is well beyond that asked for of other operations in the town budget. Since the people of our town spoke loudly in approving the referendum for adding onto our library, it is hard to understand that our board’s plan to cut the operating funds by 25 percent, the largest cut among the town operations, thereby setting the library up as one of the lowest priorities in our town.

The majority of our taxpayers by their recent vote believe that the library is a prime priority and should receive due consideration. The library has agreed to a 10 percent cut, but anything greater would reduce staff and cut service. I encourage the town to restore the operating funds as requested by the library.

Stan Pinover

Madison