Cape Codder notes Chatham residents eyeing town spending.

Residents get involved
Chatham selectmen have begun poring over the town’s 2010 budget and it’s clear that asking residents for an additional $558,000 to fund a school shortfall doesn’t sit well with everyone. The fact that the tax rate will not go up, because the town is retiring some debt, is not enough to assuage concerns.

In addition to calling in the school committee to explain why the additional funds are needed, selectmen will also be looking at the town budget.

Selectmen chairman Sean Summers pointed out that pay increases for union and non-union members exceed $380,000, not counting school staff.

At least two residents, Francis Meaney and Phil Dupont, have requested both the town and school budgets (which are more than a foot thick) to see if increases are necessary.

Calling themselves “concerned taxpayers,” the two will be a regular presence at upcoming budget meetings. Meaney said although he has owned a home in town for more than a decade, he only moved to Chatham full time a year ago. He said he isn’t alone in wondering why the school committee is recommending a close to 10 percent increase in this dreadful economic climate.

“You say wait a minute. It doesn’t sound like the year we should continue spending as usual,” he said, adding that cost of living increases are given because of inflation, and right now the country is in a deflationary period.

Meaney said Chatham was “an extremely well-managed town” but there was a “bias” toward spending.

“Maybe right now the bias should be a little different,” he said. “Maybe this is the year we take a pause.”

In the meantime, selectmen will be discussing the budget, two, sometimes three times a week. Among departments on their radar screen are the permit office, harbormaster, park and recreation and information and technology. There were also questions about the fire department, which has added eight new firefighters in recent years, but still has an overtime budget of $330,000.