Don’t Take Budget Votes

Away From The Voters

To the Editor:

I must take issue with a letter submitted by Tom Bittman in last week’s edition of The Bee. [“Time To Change The Way We Approve Budget,” Letter Hive, 4/29/11] The writer strongly advocated a new system of approving town budgets by eliminating the public vote via annual referenda. His justification for this was voter apathy resulting in poor turnout at the polls for budget approvals. His idea was to bypass the public and allow the Legislative Council to have the final word on town budgets. There are several reasons why I disagree with him.

Firstly, the premise of his argument is flawed. He believes that the majority of people who do not vote are just lazy or preoccupied, but really are in favor of approving the budget as submitted. My interpretation of low voter turnout is simply that the people who stay home don’t really care about the size of the budget and would be satisfied whether the budget is increased or decreased. Those who do show up are exercising their franchise because they have a strong position and though they may be a minority of the eligible voters, their voices cannot be discounted or ignored on the assumption that nonvoters feel one way or the other. If 100 people are eligible to vote and 80 of them stay home, one cannot assume that those 80 people are against or in favor of a question. The only reasonable explanation is that the question is not important to them and any result would be fine. They are, in effect, putting their trust in the decisions of those who do vote.

Secondly, the idea that the Legislative Council is in a better position to approve final budgets is also flawed in its practice. Budgets have a great financial impact on all taxpayers, including members of the council. If the make-up of the council happens to be 12 very financially secure individuals, they may not appreciate the impact of a large tax increase. Conversely, if council members are struggling more than the average taxpayer, then they might be swayed to approve only lower budgets. Although we like to believe that elected officials act only in the best interests of those they serve, this is not always the case, especially in financial matters that affect them personally.

Finally, the writer’s suggestion is a slippery slope. If we allow elected officials to determine our financial fate, where will it stop? Will we also let Legislative Council members choose their own replacements? How about the Board of Education or the Selectmen? Would Mr Bittman approve of the BOE “electing” its own members? I certainly would not. Eliminating the public input in deciding budgets would surely speed up the process and prevent multiple referenda, but at what cost to the freedom of the citizenry to determine their future?

George Caracciolo

Schoolhouse Hill Road, Newtown                                      May 2, 2011