Selectmen's Budget

As of now, you should have received your Amherst Citizens Association’s Voter’s Guide.  In it, “they” call for a NO vote on the Selectman’s Budget because they are angry with the Board of Selectmen.   Their call for a NO vote on the budget is irresponsible and counterproductive.

A NO vote will not hurt the Board of Selectmen, it will hurt the citizens of our town.   It will also hurt the call firefighters and EMS personnel well deserved wage adjustments which are included in the budget.   The town cannot and should not continue to operate on default budgets. 

The Ways and Means Committee said it best, “operating consistently on a flat or default budget is not desirable, because it is more costly for the town in the long run.”   The Ways and Means volunteers, the BOS and the department heads spent hours upon hours constructing a budget that is reasonable and responsible.   

The default budget is $144,825 which may not seem like a lot of money to cut from a budget of over $11 million.   But, in the budgeting process, significant cuts were already made.  So to cut $144,825 does represent cuts that are not fat but necessary items in the department’s budgets. 

Last year only about 22% of the registered voters voted.   Unfortunately, a majority of those voters voted NO on all of the budgets.    If we want our Town and our School Districts to operate efficiently, we need a majority of voters to show up at the polls who are interested in a community that functions for all. 

As a candidate for Selectman and an outspoken critic of this Board of Selectmen, I would encourage you to not punish the town because you want to punish the Board and vote yes for the Selectman’s operating budget.

Please do not leave the important decisions for the town up to a small vocal minority.   Please make a special effort to vote on March 12th.

Sincerely,

Marilyn Peterman