Tiverton
Since I offered commentary on Anchor Rising against the Tiverton Budget Committee’s decision to level fund the local contribution to the school budget, it seems reasonable to note, in this space, that I’ve revised my position. As I explained here and here, I’d been misled by the language that the School Committee and administration use…
For those who are interested, I’m liveblogging from a special Tiverton Town Council meeting, which is including discussion of proposing legislation to the General Assembly that would allow cities and towns to delay final budgetary decisions for up to 90 days in order to procure more accurate information about revenue.
FYI: I’m liveblogging a very long Tiverton Town Council meeting over on the Tiverton Citizens for Change blog. It’s just about 10:00, and they’re finally getting to the controversial part of the meeting. Just goes to show how much effort even local participation can take. That’s no excuse, of course.
Over on the Tiverton Citizens for Change blog, I’ve been following the battle over the tax cap in this year’s budget war. The town’s Budget Committee has now voted to reduce all requested budgets to an amount below the state cap on property tax increases (4.5%). The School Committee is actively declaring the end of…
A certain faction in Tiverton, working with the town solicitor, is striving to make it as easy as possible for the town to exceed the 3050 statewide cap on municipal tax levies. I’ve got background and video up on the TCC Web site, and I’ll be liveblogging over there during tonight’s town council meeting, at…
I’ve posted video of the Tiverton School Committee’s hearing about closing the high school over on the TCC Web site. Two dramatically different visions for moving the town forward are emerging. One entails retrenchment, with townies overpowering childless retirees and moving forward with the usual way of doing business, including the decades-long approach to improving…
I’ve meant to address a letter in the Sakonnet Times (not online) that attacks Tiverton Citizens for Change, not because it’s particularly worthy of response, but because it’s such a clear illustration of the up-is-down rhetoric that our local opposition has decided to pursue as a political strategy. The letter, expressing concern about an “extreme…
By way of follow up, I asked Director of Administration and Finance Doug Fiore a couple of questions after tonight’s school committee meeting, here are various interesting data points derived from our conversation: Approximately $130,000 of the $450,000 increase in health insurance costs would have been erased from the next budget if the union hadn’t…