I'm sure the BABB budget is public record. Certainly the select board passes on it each year in public session and I think Chris and Lise may have reported on it from time to time.

In any case, I can say that the money (which I gladly pay) goes to market downtown Brattleboro. This includes the obvious, high-profile events such as the just-completed Decemberfest, and also includes the behind-the-scenes grunt work accomplished by a staff of two people.

You can see what BABB has been up to on their web site: www.brattleborovt.org

In the old days we used to get together and run around to the various shops to beg for money for ad campaigns and Christmas lighting and such, and always wished we had the resources to do great things for the downtown that would be more beneficial to the community than just a few people selling stuff. Things like the Literary Festival (my favorite), or dealing with eyesores like Dunkin' Donuts or the Rite Aid that were smack in the middle of town and screamed "not cool". All our efforts fizzled because the people most motivated to work on these things were downtown merchants who do have businesses to run, after all.

What was needed was full-time, professional management.

After several years of continual fund raising it became clear that the effort was paying real benefits (though not without major glitches and hiccups), so the town voted to make BABB a legitimate, designated recipient of funding, to give it the breathing room to actually get more work done rather than chase dollars all the time like politicians do. Pliny Park is an example of how the downtown organization brings in more than it spends.

So the message behind the money is that, even though downtown is a small part of the Brattleboro economy, these five blocks are the visible identity of the entire region. When things are crummy and dingy and there are empty storefronts, people get depressed about where they live. When there are festivals and neat shops and lots of things and people to look at and listen to, people feel good about life and want to just hang out and BE downtown, and to tell their friends they were in Brattleboro. Everything that goes down in town should have a pedestrian-friendly, downtown component. Chris' animated calendar is one of the best ways I've seen to grasp this whole concept in one go.

All this doesn't require a million dollars to pull off, but it does require some money and a lot of time — and that's where your DID tax money goes.

If you need the actual dollars and cents I'm sure you can just stop by the very accessible BABB office in the River Garden and ask for budget details. I never do because the tax I pay is reasonable and I'm just so relieved that all this work is being done better than I could do it!