Sorry Mrs. Horan-McClean but I strongly disagree with your plea for the death of Prop 2 1/2. For the most part, I've stayed out of this but you are, once again, asking the people of Dartmouth to entrust you with the last harness of local government spending the taxpayer has. You in Dartmouth Town Hall didn't take advantage of the state healthcare plan which would have helped the budget greatly. Has anyone blasted the Bristol County pension board of trustees for not joining the state pension plan? I would think it incumbent upon you Mrs. McLean or you Mr. Gagne to do so. According to rough estimates, the "90%" of the town's homes who paid into the "Pay as you throw" trash fee should roughly equal 9,000 homes. If the average spending on that alone is $300 per household, you've gotten a town budget increase of $2.7M (9,000 x 300). In 2003 you've been provided with a 21% increase in Chapter 70 state funding for the schools. We blew through that too? Dartmouth, please continue to say NO. Say NO to Proposition 2 1/2 over-rides. Say no once, twice or fifty times per year but say NO. It's time the taxpayer shows a little concern for his or her own future, not just the futures of the municipal workers. We appreciate and value their services but the government of Dartmouth and their workers should not be uniquely sheltered from the economy which has an impact on those funding the town; the taxpayer.

 

 

Ken Pittman

Dartmouth