When a responsible budget is put to the town for a vote, inevitably there are a few comments (I wish they were questions) that come up every year. Considering that ours has passed, this seems like a good time to address them. I have nothing to gain at the moment, I’m not trying to convince anyone to vote “yes”. Consider this a PSA on budgets for anyone who cares.
Why It’s Always More
Proper budgets are built from scratch. Needs for the coming year are projected at the department level and everything rolls up to the number(s) you vote on. Each year, there are hundreds of things that might change across all of the departments a town and school district run.
- Technology
- Staffing
- Equipment
- Supplies
- Regulations to meet
- Number of students/residents to serve
- New initiatives
- Fuel costs
- Contractual agreements
- Debt service
At the other end of these and many other budget items are either people or things. Almost without exception, things cost more and people need to be paid more. If nothing else, prices don’t tend to go down. Just to do the same things that were done the year prior, it costs more.
A 0% tax increase almost always means a reduction in people or programs.
Negotiating
I wish I had a dollar for the number of times I’ve heard a voter make reference to the fact that our boards have to negotiate or push back on the departments who make spending requests.
They do.
Why would a voter assume that our elected officials just slap a number on the ballot and call it a day?
Honestly, it’s so arrogant I want to kick someone.
In my town, the budget process begins in the fall. The school budget discussions happen in December. We vote on the budget in May. That is how long our boards spend working on these budgets.
They go over the numbers at every level. The Superintendent presents a budget. The Board of Education presents a budget. The First Selectman presents a budget. The Board of Selectmen present a budget. The Board of Finance present a budget. Each of those presentations of the budget to the next level involves a detailed review of every line item, and often a reduction.
If you show up on the day of the budget referendum and think “maybe someone should look at these numbers for efficiencies” without knowing about all those reviews, you’re clueless.
It’s ok not to know. It’s not ok to assume you know better.
I Don’t Have Time/Forgot To Vote
This really frustrates me.
There are people who vote “no” to everything, all the time, no matter what it is or how much it costs. They don’t want to pay for anything and they never miss a vote.
There are a large number of people who are uninformed and/or apathetic. They don’t know what’s going on and if by some chance the information is put in front of their face, it will still take a small miracle to get them to come to the polls.
Despite the fact that local elections and budgets have a big impact on their day-to-day lives, the sensationalism of Presidential elections is more of a draw.
Without your vote, class sizes get bigger, textbooks get older, parks don’t get built, and roads don’t get plowed. It’s the things that touch your lives every day – and mine, too. Whatever it is you’re doing, you can spare 10 minutes to vote.
It’s that important. Don’t make me chase you every year. Because…
When Budgets Fail, They Get Cut
There’s no second chance. If a budget fails, it will get cut. Whatever we lose is gone for that year. Once it’s gone, it’s much harder to bring it back than it would have been to sustain it.
If we lose teachers, it’s hard to get approval to hire more next year.
If we lose an art program, it’s hard to justify the need to bring it back.
If we don’t replace a police car, it’s hard to prove we really needed it to begin with.
Voting the first time is critical. A failed budget is interpreted as a budget that was too high when usually it was a budget that people weren’t paying paying attention to.
Pay attention. Participate in the process instead of second guessing everyone’s hard work at the last minute. And VOTE.