Don’t ask questions – just pay your taxes!

I saw a letter from Bob Petit in the Sun today (may have been an old paper), it was unusually short and of a different writing style than normal, but the point was that we should all be happy with Chariho’s budget and give it a “Yes” vote on Tuesday.

What has Chariho really done?

Chariho’s General Fund budget went from $17,720,106 in 08/09 to $17,590,131 for 09/10 – a decrease of .73% (these figures are Hopkinton’s share only).

Good, a decrease, how did they get there?

As Sylvia and others have often written, Chariho has a habit of over budgeting to the tune of millions per year. They start the year with about $8m in surplus and allocate “reserves” for capital improvements (like the money they set aside to move the water tank at Ashaway – has it been done yet?) and other things that may or may not be used (such as health care self insurance which has caused the budget line item to quadruple since inception).

This year, they have taken $807,525 of Hopkinton taxes (surplus from previous years) and applied it to this year’s budget. So basically, they took the money from us last year and added it to their spending this year.

So, what does that make Chariho’s actual spending increase this year? This means that the $17,590,131 reported above is really $18,397,656 – or an increase of 3.82%.

Bob said, “Let’s remember that the superintendent submitted a budget that called for a decrease in member town contributions.”

What he meant to say is “this year” because the money was taken from us last year. Do they think we are stupid?  

Now let’s compare that to what Hopkinton is doing.

Town revenues are down  – building fees, property tax collections, etc… Hopkinton revenues (for the town, not school) dropped 1.26 percent, or a total of $223,884.

The Hopkinton town budget, as of today, has cut expenses by 2 percent, or $115,709.

So, the town has cut (so far) 2 percent from the operating budget and Chariho has increased theirs by 3.8%.

I urge all of you to vote “No” on Tuesday and send a message to Chariho that we expect them to make the same sacrifices we have.

[UPDATE] I should add that even though we (Hopkinton) have cut 2% from operations and Chariho has shifted fund around to keep the net from them at a .74% reduction, the Town of Hopkinton is still facing a shortfall of about $240,000, which would mean an increase in property taxes (which I won’t vote for). It looks like Chariho expects the towns to make all the cuts. 

I would assume the other towns have made similar cuts. If Chariho cut another $1m each town would probably have enough to NOT RAISE TAXES. And let me make a prediction, next year we will find out that Chariho once again over budgeted well in excess of $1m.  (hint – look at the history of our health care costs – go back and see what it was when we just paid the bill due and see what it is now that we self insure)

Think back to the teacher contract issues in East Providence – didn’ t the teachers cry, “why give us all the cuts?” Well in Chariho they ignore the economy and keep business as usual while we cut to the bone. IMHO this is the key downside to a regional district – they don’t represent US.