November 8, 2011
Woo-hoo (with an asterisk)
Matt Sanderson of the Tiverton Patch is reporting that both the library bond and the financial town referendum (FTR) questions passed. So, there's a big woo-hoo for the FTR. Of course, that's tempered by the fact that voters just agreed to borrow several million more dollars in order to build a new library — on top of the three brand new elementary schools that we've recently built.
It doesn't take but a few floating tea leaves to see that this combination will yield a crisis (even before we throw in pension problems), but at the very least, I can only be thrilled that the referendum will likely act as a counter to the absolutely massive tax increases that would be facing Tiverton in its absence.
The vote counts paint an interesting picture. According to Sanderson, the FTR won by 2,927 to 1,429 (67% to 33%), while the library slipped through with 2,351 votes against 2,009 (54% to 46%).
The difference, therefore, is around 13% of voters, which could be decisive in determining how the town deals with all of the demands being made on its finances — including what I understand to be extremely weak bargaining against the local unions on the part of the current Town Council, under the leadership of President Jay Lambert.
It's amazing how the bond referenda pass every year. It's like people think this is just the government's money, they'll pay for it. The question they're being asked is whether they want a new library.
It seems every election season, there's a group to promote the passage of each bond referendum. I think we need a group that will simply explain the other side of the questions and explain to people how much it'll cost. I wonder if these things would pass if it were included in the question that "Your taxes will go up by $20 per person in your home for the next few years if this passes".
Posted by: Patrick at November 8, 2011 9:38 PM"the FTR won by 2,927 to 1,429 (67% to 33%)"
Major congratulations to Tiverton voters for voting in favor of democracy.
Posted by: Monique at November 8, 2011 10:48 PM"I wonder if these things would pass if it were included in the question that "Your taxes will go up by $20 per person in your home for the next few years if this passes"."
If people knew what they were actually paying for government services, they would be willing to pay for practically nothing they currently support. I've only met a few lunatics in my lifetime who said that they'd support the military at any personal cost to themselves. Most would go out and buy Gadsden flags and picket city hall. But the entire system is set up to emphasize benefits while masking costs. Even organizations with extreme incentives to publish such data, like conservative and libertarian think tanks, have found it nearly impossible to get reliable data.
Posted by: Dan at November 9, 2011 7:57 AMJustin did the TCC group take a stand on this issue? What was it and if not why not?
Posted by: Slim tonun at November 9, 2011 4:33 PM