The Hard Truth: Do you care?

by Maria Amodei

Two weeks ago the Dunstable voters said no to an override to keep the town budget balanced while continuing to provide services at the current level. Roughly 900 people voted. The prior week we had a town meeting where the budget was discussed. This meeting was attended by about 150 people.

Now I'm a Yankee at heart. I don't like spending money. I understand why many folks first reaction at the polls was to simply say "No, don't spend any more money". I've also spent time at town meetings and at the finance committee meetings listening to discussions of the various expenditures the town makes, prioritizing services and making tough decisions as to where we will make cuts. Anyone who has spent time at Finance Committee meetings or any other board meetings in Dunstable will quickly realize that we are not a wasteful or extravagant town. Our town government is full of practical and thrifty people. It's easy to look at the entire budget for a board or the town and say "this is too much money". But I challenge you to take one of those budgets and look at what each line pays for and determine what should be cut, or what we can do for less. This is what our boards have been doing for years as part of running our town practically, and what we are doing with savage and painful desperation now that the town is forced to cut services. Reality is... costs in our economy go up more than 2 ½ % per year whether the people in this town like it or not. Add to that diminishing state funding and we are going to have to learn to live without.

Live without what?

• For starters, police coverage. Our police force is not large, nor do we have fancy facilities. We barely cover our shifts now with the available staff. We share dispatch with Groton and use their lock up. We have worked hard to get each officer well trained and able to respond to any public safety needs the town may have. Through a series of other cuts to services we have avoided a layoff of one of these officers. Excellent staff is something you cannot simply re-hire after you have let them go and a layoff can cost the town up to $30,000 in unemployment and other expenses. For this $30,000 the town gets nothing. Though we have avoided losing some of our staff, the new budget allows no time for investigations, no coverage for community events, and no coverage for serious incidents such as accidents or missing persons. We risk gaps in coverage. When you call 911 there may not be an officer in Dunstable to come to your aid. Our EMT and Fire departments are staffed by volunteers so the police are the lead agency for all public safety calls. They are the first trained emergency personnel on the scene to help in case of illness, accident, or fire because they are on duty at all times. Perhaps you are robustly healthy and live in a house with an exceptional security system. Do you care?
• How about the library? I know of three folks personally who use the library extensively for reading material, particularly ordering books from other libraries. The library also hosts a variety of meetings and events. The seniors used the library for gathering on Wednesdays but now the library will be closed on Wednesdays to accommodate the cuts. The library had to acquire certifications to be eligible for inter library loan. This new budget cuts the library to levels that make it ineligible for certification. They will try to get a waiver for a year. There is no guarantee that we will get this waiver and if we do not come up with adequate funding next year then we will lose the certification. If you use the library then get used to traveling to other libraries or buying books. If you do not, then do you care?
• Larter field and the town fields. We've made enormous cuts in the grounds maintenance for these properties. They certainly were not fancy, but the facilities were kept clean and trimmed. I do believe the port-a-pots will be history in this budget so make sure little Joey goes before the game. Hopefully we can afford to mow the grass but then if you don't use those fields do you care?
• Transfer station. This has always been subsidized by the town so we have the option of significantly raising tag fees. Recycling will be free as always. The new town budget for the transfer station works only with large increases in fees as we can no longer afford to subsidize this service to the same level. If you use BFI then do you care?
• Road maintenance. We cut over half the budget for repairing the roads. Learn to watch for potholes when you drive. We also are using a budget for snow removal that is lower than historical expenses. The highway department has been very aggressive trying to find ways to reduce material and labor costs for snow removal, but we need to buy sand and salt and are at the mercy of Mother Nature and the commodity prices for those items. Given all other services that have been cut to the bone we had best pray for an easy winter. There is no money to cover an overage. Perhaps you telecommute in bad weather. Do you care?

I'll bet there is no one in town who is not touched by at least one of these services or the services affected by a myriad of other cuts, services we take for granted. I'll bet you do care. If nothing else you care that part of the value of your home is the quality of the community, which is at risk. You may care because your kids play in leagues at the fields, or you've called the police to help an elderly neighbor, or you work in health care and have to go to work regardless of weather. You may care because you love books and take advantage of the library, or your neighbor's kids are always going there and your neighbors are your friends. You may care because you are proud of this lovely town you live in and it brings a bit of joy to an early commute to see the gazebo perched in the deep green carpet of the commons on a misty summer dawn.

I don't believe the vote to reject the town override represents people who want these services reduced or cut entirely. I think that vote represented people who only knew there would be a financial cost to the new budget, and did not understand how close to the bone our town budgets already are. The papers are full of stories of government corruption. You've met your share of extravagant and greedy people. You are having trouble balancing your own household budget. The reasons to reject additional expenses in this day and age are many. However if you come to meetings and truly work through each line item with the boards responsible for providing services I think you will see the reasons for accepting this budget are overwhelming. I ask that you get to know your town government and your town budget. We are trying to provide base services and keep this town going. We don't want to pay higher taxes ourselves. We are spending lovely summer evenings cooped up in the town hall looking for pennies under the seat cushions.

The reality is that our economy is driving expenses up faster than town receipts. This budget not only removes important services from our town, but cannot be sustained. We will need an override next year. Meanwhile, what will we do if we get a big snow year, or a serious public safety emergency?

The quality of life in this town affects everyone who lives here, even the folks who commute each day to work far away. I'll bet you do care. I'm asking you to show your concern and come to town meeting on Monday. Tell the town that you care. Tell the police that you care. Tell the library that you care. Tell the folks keeping our recreational areas that you care. Tell highway that you care. Understand the budget and speak up on what services are important to you.

Town meeting is Monday at 7PM at the Swallow Union School. This is your town, your home, and your life.