We urge you to vote for Noonan, Singer, and Murray to effect the changes necessary to ensure better stewardship of our money.

We are being asked to approve a general override to supplement the Town and School operating budgets. Before voting on this general override, it is instructive to review the Town's management of funds obtained in previous overrides. 

The override voted in 2015 in the amount of $7,780,000 had listed as a purpose a line item for "New Transfer Station Building" this issue $4,350,000. As is evident from a trip to Woodfin Terrace no such building was ever constructed. The current debt service for this nonexistent structure is $200,000 per year. The Town has never offered a cogent explanation or statement in the required bond disclosures to either the residents or the bond holders for the failure to execute the project. 

Last year the Town voted an override in the amount of $12,300,000 for a number of projects, notably replacement of high school roof, $4,945,450, and road and sidewalk repair program, $2,229,000. The Town received the bond receipts on September 6, 2022, approximately 10 months ago and were deposited in the National Grand Bank and assumed to be earning interest at 2% for a credit of $240,000 by September of this year when the first bond payment of $220,000 is due, basically a wash. However, with inflation at 5%, the failure to contract the work has cost the Town $600,000 in the current year purchasing power. Next years debt service rises to $500,000, all money spent with no visible benefit as the roads remain unpaved and the school roof still leaks. 

The debt service per capita has risen from $3,610 in 2020 to approximately $5,700 in 2023. This alarming trend has not been accompanied by any improvement in the Town's infrastructure. To remedy this disturbing trend a change in leadership is required. We urge you to vote for Noonan, Singer, and Murray to effect the changes necessary to ensure better stewardship of our money.

Allen Waller

Atlantic Ave