For those Sandwich folks who've been watching Detroit’s bankruptcy proceedings on TV or in the newspaper AND paying attention to our towns’ budgeting processes, a few similarities are as alarming as they are striking. Here are just a few:
In both Sandwich and Detroit municipal payroll and retirement obligations are growing faster than tax revenues.
In both Sandwich and Detroit a lack of industrial/commercial tax revenues is shifting a disproportionate tax burden onto residential homeowners.
In both Sandwich and Detroit reliance on debt financing (i.e. bonds and borrowing) for what has historically been an annual operating expenses (like building maintenance and repair) has become routine.
In both Sandwich and Detroit overly ambitious and expensive municipal construction projects have been championed by government as needed, necessary and affordable.
Detroit is in bankruptcy. Sandwich in not; but that’s surely not for a lack of bad management practices and poor planning choices.
I think the difference between Detroit and Sandwich is Town Meeting.
In Town Meeting right thinking taxpayers have time-and-time again rejected nonsensical debt offerings and over-the-top construction requests. Too bad Town Meeting can’t be responsible for ratifying (or rejecting) all municipal payroll and retirement obligations as well!
Sandwich isn't Detroit; but it’s certainly not as far from it as a map might make you think.
2 comments:
Town Meeting may have nuked the occasional expensive project, but they rarely question the Town Budget which usually passes in 4 minutes.
Far more time is spent discussing half-assed petition articles (banning wind chimes, eliminating nuclear power, requiring smiles, etc.) than is spent on the guts of the Town Budget -- how much gets spent on people, vehicles, maintenance, etc.? How much have labor costs increased?
Unfortunately, many folks that do rise to raise a question are so poorly informed that they only serve to prevent others from bothering to get up at all.
Its unfortunate, but the sight of some people starting to get up is likely to trigger a rush to the microphone for the sole purpose of "calling the question" and saving the audience from a rambling monologue of irrelevance.
If the next Charter Commission really wanted to do something, they would have a serious discussion about ending Amateur Hour and pursuing accountable management.
Good to see that Mr. Guerin has not lost his edge. We no longer enjoy his /Sandwich Enterprise editorials, which seem to have ceased over the last few years, but he continues to provide entertaining insights which hit the mark with blogs like this one
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