On Tuesday, it is a safe bet that one out of every 10 taxpayers in Tisbury, Oak Bluffs, Edgartown, and West Tisbury will decide how to spend money that belongs to the other nine. Conceptually, that may not be troubling. So here is another way to frame it.
Say you live in West Tisbury on a road where the average house is valued at $700,000. You and eight of your neighbors — some will be seasonal residents — gather in your backyard for a barbecue.
Here comes the fun part. Someone you don’t know very well — maybe you’ve seen him or her around — asks you and each of your guests to put a check for $4,300 into an envelope with assurances that your hard-earned money will be spent wisely on town affairs — that notion should be good for a few Heimlich maneuvers.
But that is essentially what will take place if past town meeting attendance records are any guide. Tuesday, about 10 percent of the electorate in each town (which does not include those seasonal taxpayers who pay most of the freight) will decide the spending questions that will determine town budgets for the fiscal year that begins on June 30, and the tax rates that support that municipal spending.
In an analysis of the factors that have affected rising property taxes in their town that appears in this week’s issue of The Times, the West Tisbury Finance Committee summed up the issue.
“During the budget review process, the Finance Committee routinely questions proposed increases, providing its recommendation for approval or disapproval of warrant articles to town voters. While we, as your representatives, may urge all those submitting budgets or warrant articles to seek greater efficiencies in order to reduce costs, ultimately it is you, the voter, who has the power to rein in spending through your vote. Tax increases don’t just happen; they are the result of conscious, cumulative votes taken on the floor of town meetings.”
This page does not suggest that the answer to rising taxes is for voters to show up and say no to every spending request. But voters do have a responsibility and a right to understand how their money will be spent.
Included in this week’s issue is a special annual town meeting warrant pullout section. Readers will find five of the six town warrants (Aquinnah’s was not available at press time) and a glossary of town meeting terms. Read your town’s warrant, and take a moment to look at the requests voters in neighboring towns will confront. You may find it useful.
The FY17 operating budgets for four of the five towns (the Oak Bluffs budget was not posted as of Wednesday) are available on each town’s website. They are worth a look.
A night — or two — in a seat at town meeting is not everyone’s idea of a good night out. Our neighbors can sometimes be long-winded (never underestimate the value of brevity in debate), and long discussions can be tiresome. Town meeting sometimes can drag on, but as frequently evidenced in Edgartown, an experienced and witty town moderator can make the time pass quickly and keep town business moving briskly so voters finish up in one night.
That is a more difficult task in Tisbury, where voters takes up articles chosen at random: a cumbersome process adopted in 1991 intended to circumvent one-issue attendance, which does not do credit to the voters’ sense of responsibility. Still, as a whole, town meeting is a refreshing experience for those who understand the bedrock upon which this country was built.
The post Editorial: You hold the reins appeared first on Martha's Vineyard Times.