FinCom Fails to Protect our Fiscal Future

The Acton Leadership Group (ALG) agreed at their February 16, 2012 meeting to plan to save $500,000 next year, $700,000 in FY14, and $900,000 in FY15 towards the town and school’s OPEB obligations. These are future costs of retiree healthcare that are calculated by the Segal report to grow at an alarming rate over the next 10-20 years.

There is no legal requirement to do anything, but there is a moral requirement. And Acton’s Finance Committee has failed to demonstrate leadership on this issue. Worse, they have “signed off” on an inadequate long-term solution that is going to cause massive problems for future taxpayers.

Putting aside money for OPEB is not spending money, it is saving it. We would establish a trust fund which could be used to pay for these future costs. There is no down side, except that we’d have to control our spending today to make sure we can meet these future obligations.

Those who spend the town's money (School Committee and Board of Selectmen) generally don't care about long-range forecasts. They have services they want to provide and they want to provide them now.

Bear in mind that these future costs are being promised right now. We are agreeing to pay past and present employees 50% of their healthcare costs when they retire. We are using their services today. If we can’t honor these obligations in five, 10, or 20 years, then lay off the workers now.

Instead, we are going to try to have our cake and eat it too. We will make the promises and let future Actonians deal with the consequences.

Our OPEB obligations are not certain, but they are large and we must pay them, whatever they are....

See www.ActonForum.com or click on http://www.actonforum.com/blogs/allenn/fincom-fails-protect-our-fiscal-future to continue.