At Thursday’s Brattleboro Selectboard meeting, I joined Amanda Thurber in voting against the proposed 27 million dollar budget because Brattleboro municipal taxes have far outpaced wage growth. At selectboard meetings, in the street, and Thursday at the Senior Center, I kept hearing, “Enough.”
We need to stick up for everyday folks who are working for a living, trying to save for the future, and wanting to give their children a better future.
I was glad that the selectboard adopted some of my proposals for financial responsibility, including restoring the finance director position, refraining from adding new staff in multiple departments, and reducing some personnel costs. We also restored funding for our bridges, retaining walls, and bicycle infrastructure.
Unfortunately, some of my attempts to lower the budget were blocked by a majority of the board.
My approach included eliminating additional vacant positions in departments that have seen recent personnel growth, and reducing staffing in large departments where the pain could be absorbed without eliminating an entire program or service.
I voted to continue curbside compost and recycling pick-up – a service that 3/4 of residents say they are satisfied with. (In an opinion poll conducted by the Town of Brattleboro in 2024, of the 399 people who responded to this question, 76% said they were satisfied, or extremely satisfied, with the current curbside solid waste collection system.)
Town Meeting this spring — whether it is a Representative Town Meeting or Open Town Meeting — will get to further review and approve, reject, or modify the selectboard’s work. I appreciate everyone who has participated in the budget meetings.
