In these last two and one-half weeks before Town Meeting every effort should be made to get the word around that voters can block tax increases and out-of-control spending with their votes.

Let your views be known by phone, email and letters to the editors of the Chronicle and the Cape Codder. You can send the letters to them by email.

To the Chronicle editor Tim Wood, email twood@capecodchronicle.com with your “letter” just like a regular letter. Put your address, email and phone number at the end so they can call to verify it’s a real letter.

For Cape Codder, it’s cdumas@cnc.com with the same kind of information.

Earl Hubbard’s letter appeared this week in the Chronicle. Here it is to inspire you:

Editor April 19, 2009
60C Munson Way
Chatham, Ma 02633

Chatham is a small Cape Cod town with a Town Meeting coming up in May that is being asked to vote an initial appropriation of $60,000,000 to commence a sewering project that could shape the Town for decades. The construction cost of this project has been estimated at $318,000,000, with the real ultimate cost over 30 years in excess of $600,000,000, not including interest incurred on debt service.

It is a Town whose primary source of revenue is from retired people living on fixed incomes. Revenue also comes from tourism and second home owners. With the local, state and national economies in a deep recession, plans are to more than triple its debt from $32,000,000 to $95,000,000 in FY10. This is an action to be taken without a clear estimate of the Town’s future revenue sources. How do you think revenue be raised? Of course, increase our taxes. After the FY10 phase there is another $258,000,000 in debt to be incurred to complete the waste water project.

Town Government is mesmerized by the hopeful but in no way guaranteed possibility of federal stimulus money to help pay for an expanded waste water system. Local full time residents have not had an opportunity to review and debate the costs of the project at a Town Meeting and have little information on how much it will cost each of us.

The local taxpayers who attend Town meeting require a more detailed summary of Town finances to make informed decisions at Town meeting. The warrant of 100 or more pages with financial data scattered throughout overwhelms the voters. The summary should contain – a) summary of FY09 budget, proposed FY10 budget and estimated FY11 budget – b) breakdown of where the revenues came from in FY09 and an estimate of where the revenues will come from in FY10 – c) before and after data of the Stabilization fund, free cash, overlay monies (all pots of money used to balance the FY10 budget this year). Also, a summary of all articles to be voted on at Town meeting and how they will affect future levies. Last, but not least, if all articles with a financial impact pass at Town meeting what will the Town debt and debt services be?

This is not the time to just go along. Citizens need to be informed and have the opportunity for dialogue and debate at Town Meeting.

Earl Hubbard
99 Potonumecot Road phone number email address

We will make available a handout to advise what votes will do what and what we think is the best vote for financially stressed taxpayers. Earl is right; the Warrant is confusing. It’s particularly so this year because the operating budget is split among several articles because it’s being funded in a very unorthodox way, using reserves usually maintained for emergencies and sharp falls in revenues. (It’s way too rich, anyway you look at it, it increases the property tax and should be voted down with a big NO.) The Selectmen should be made to take the budget back and do their job for the taxpayers.

Check our website every day now. Attend our meeting on Monday, May 4th at 4 at the Community Center. Print up flyers for your neighbors using the one on our website. We may have more shortly.

Be active. Voting concerned taxpayer can vote can stop the runaway spending, but they have to show up at town meeting and vote. Everyone has to pay attention, because efforts will be made to confuse things and to push spending proposals through. Spending in Chatham has risen 44% in just eight years and this year proposed spending could push it over 50%. Every year most of that increase in spending is paid for by your property taxes. The same is true this year.

Property taxes should be kept at the fiscal 2009 level and non-emergency capital spending should be deferred until better economic times return.

Stand up for yourself.