Letter to the
I am sending this message to firmly state my
opposition to the upcoming over ride!!!
I have been a tax paying resident of
In recent years the town and primarily the school
system has displayed a lack of fiscal financial budget control which is
unacceptable and must be corrected using sound management practices similar to
those used by well managed companies in the private sector!!! That means operating within the budget
and doing without certain cost driving elements when necessary until such time
as funds are available to afford those items on a continuing
basis!!
It has come to my attention that part of this over
ride is to provide the school system personnel with 8+ % salary
increases!!! The typical
annual salary increases being paid out in private sector industry in the
area over the last ten plus years has been a 1.5 to 3.0 % merit
increase and workers have been required to pay more out of pocket for
medical , dental and insurance coverage participation in various plans
offered by their companies. This
does not seem to be the situation in the town of
Another very troublesome thing about the budget
process in Hamilton is that when previous over rides have been pushed through
the original budget plus the over ride for that specific year then becomes the
new baseline for the following year when the over ride was only approved for the
previous year!! Correct me if
I am wrong in this assumption.
In closing, the only words that I have to say
are ' Enough Is Enough
'!!
It is clearly the responsibility of the Selectmen to assure that the operating budget for the town and school system is not exceeded within the limits of Prop. 2.5 and when the school system presents an over ride budget to tell the school system ' Enough Is Enough ' and to adjust their budget and curriculum accordingly and get back to the basics of reading, writing, arithmetic, history, geography and one foreign language and a few after hour sports/music programs and eliminate non essential liberal social curriculum and perhaps take a hard look at the real need for the substantial administrative staff that currently exists as well as the salary increase and overall benefits program that is in place!! It's time to tighten the belt a few notches like the rest of the world is doing!!
Needless to say, I will not vote in favor of the proposed over ride and have been sharing my feelings on this subject with a large number of residents in the town and the grand majority are in agreement with me point for point!!!
I welcome your comments relative to the
above.
Sincerely;
Bruce R. Wadleigh
A concerned citizen of the town of
Hamilton