|
|
WILTON – After four hours of discussion, debate and various methods of voting, residents approved all 53 articles on the warrant and raised the full amount requested and then some at the annual town meeting tonight.
About 150 voters packed the Academy Hill School cafeteria and decided after much debate to pay for half the cost of a $200,000 fire truck for the East Dixfield Fire Department, to take out a $500,000, 5-year loan for the repair and repaving of several roads in town, and to keep all the lights on in town.
A proposal to cut the street lighting budget by nearly $20,000 by turning off half the lights was met with a long discussion and several votes.
While finance committee member Barry Hathaway and Selectman Chair Terry Brann argued that the town needed to “hold the line on spending somewhere,” others voiced safety concerns if the lights on their street were to be turned off.
“This is a place where we can cut the budget,” Hathaway said. “We’ve got to start cutting somewhere.”
“You people don’t realize that next year is going to be worse,” Brann said of the next budget cycle.
But several residents said lights provide security, some worried about the elderly not feeling secure and others mentioned safety issues.
When asked about his opinion, Police Chief Dennis Brown said a study regarding street lights showed lights deterred crime in metropolitan areas. “Street lights are a safety tool,” he said.
|
|
A resident amended the selectmen’s and finance committee’s recommended amount of $32,900 to $52,000, the total currently paid to keep all the lights on. In a close written vote, 81 voted yes in an amendment to keep all the lights on while 70 voted no.
On more than a few articles, voters attempted to amend the requested amount to a lower one. Some voters questioned paying $32,600 a year for the town’s part time assessor, while others tried to cut the police department by $10,000 to total $361,000, but after much discussion on the need for six full-time officers, the amendment to cut spending failed to pass.
“We’ve received complaints from residents of not ever seeing a cruiser on their street,” Brown said. So a decision was made to divide up the town into four areas and to patrol a different street in each area every 36 hours. “A lot of folks want to see a police cruiser in their neighborhood,” he added. In the end, the majority voted to approve the recommended $371,785 total requested.
In defending the decision to secure a bond loan of $500,000 to be used to repave roads, highway foreman, John Welch said “this is an effort to protect the roads we’ve spent money on.”
“We’re falling behind; we need to take the longer view,” Selectman Irv Faunce said in support of the loan.
Resident Conrad Heeschen called into question how much could be accomplished with the loan amount, repaving versus reconstruction and that the town should look into other alternatives, such as returning some roads to gravel as the price of petroleum-based paving continues to jump.
“We need a 10-year capital plan for road work,” he said. After more people serving on the road committee spoke in favor of taking out the loan, voters approved it.
Voters also went with the recommendation of no longer picking up the fees for commercial haulers if residents want curbside service. By approving it, $10,000 less than the current budget for a $298,625 total was approved for the transfer station and recycling center costs.
Voters attempted to cut some of the Franklin County Animal Shelter and animal control officer, the health officer and the recreation program funding, but all were overridden by the majority of voters. The Wilton Free Library had to defend itself against an attempt to cut $10,000 from its budget request.
Resident Joey Kinsey said all the town departments were asked this year to cut their budgets by 10 percent. The library, he said, didn’t cut their budget enough.
According to library director David Olson, the library’s budget totals $125,975 but $108,675 was requested. The difference is made up by generous donations, he said. Others spoke out in favor of the library as a valuable resource in town that should be supported. A majority agreed and the requested amount was granted.
The budget totaling roughly $2.7 million was approved, along with allowing selectmen to use up to $180,000 from the undesignated fund balance account to offset costs. A $171,000 increase in Wilton’s share of the Mt. Blue RSU bill and a decrease in state revenues to the town are the reasons for the increases over the last budget.
|
|
Taxpayers who winter in Florida help to pay for plowing. Families without school age children help pay for schools. Taxpayers who hope to never need the fire department pay for the fire department, the same with police protection. I pay to maintain roads I never use. It’s called shared responsibility. The services we receive from government can be most efficiently delivered when we join as a community to provide them.
The conservative mantra of personal responsibility works in the movies for John Wayne shielding Maureen O’Hara and fighting off 50 outlaws with a six shooter, but it is an abysmal failure in places like Somalia where government has failed and he who has the most gold and the biggest gun always wins.
Maybe our elected officials will get the picture we drew last night that their only purpose is to govern efficiently, not just cut taxes no matter what.
Thanks folks for leaving the street lights on. Just because a couple of the selectmen do not have street lights by their homes, that doesn’t mean the rest of the town should go dark.
I hope someone goes around and takes down all the signs!!
Tony, again what are talking about? i don’t know how John Wayne fighting off outlaws with a six shooter in the movies relates to personal responsibility.
but my idea of personal responsibility would be that if someone who is impoverished and having trouble feeding their family, they don’t go out and have more kids, or some how spend what money they do have on cigarettes, lottery tickets, and beer.
my tax dollars going to pay for roads, schools, and police is fine, but my tax dollars going to pay for people that don’t take responsibility for their actions is another thing. I see it everyday living in the slums of Wilton, and I’m beyond frustrated by it. i am even tired of seeing the EBT card pulled out for 30 packs of soda, they removed soda from the schools, due to the lack of nutritional value, lets remove it from the benefits system.
I have people running around my work place smoking cigarettes, celebrating that they no longer have to worry about getting cancer, because the can get “a free Obama lung” as they like to say.
What have we become? A society with a hand out instead of a hand up?
hey hutch, I got a great idea, if you don’t like it, move. I did and now I don’t pay state income tax, I don’t pay property tax and I make more money than I did living in Wilton. You want to buy a house in wilton real cheap? I will sell you mine, I couldn’t really afford all the taxes on it.
Hutch – that’s a metaphor.
Most of the objections to town funding the street lights took the form of personal responsibility – it you like street lights, buy one and install it on your meter. My view is that street lighting benefits all and should be paid for with tax monies. As for taking down the signs, maybe that’s something we as individuals could do for the town.
Re; the rant on welfare – that has nothing to do with street lighting or the issues that came up last night. My years in pharmacy taught me not to paint all medicaid recipients with the same brush. Some do need help, others work the system. I have compassion for the first, disdain for the others. Anyone who smokes assuming they’ll get a lung transplant is a fool. Gasping for air during an exacerbation of emphysema is not fun and that would come first.
Learn to like people Hutch – most are pretty nice. There are a few pitas, so what?
Jon, i would rather paint the house to a color i like!
Tony, the rant on welfare was a rant on personal responsibility.
i regret not attending the town meeting, i have never seen a town of a significant size not have street lights, and i always viewed it that we are in a financial crisis that is going to get worse, and if we need to start cutting, i think there are a lot of items to consider, and the residents have spoken, so now we need to address the fiscal issues with greater concern next year. it may come up again.
The taxes are worth it, WIlton is a wonderful, safe place to raise your children. I pay taxes in Wilton, and feel good about it because I know my neighbors watch out for my children, my children have several opportunities to particpate in recreation and the schools are outstanding. We love Wilton, taxes and all!
I think the town of Wilton needs to get rid of some of the street lights. They do not serve a purpose in certain areas and I strongly support the selectmen’s decision. If you feel the need to keep the light, then either pay for it with your own income or buy a motion light. There are alternatives and the town needs to save money somewhere.