ON MARCH 9TH, Goffstown voters will be asked to support Town Article 22 and School Article 6.  These two articles are identical.  They state simply, "Shall we adopt the provisions of RSA 40:14-b to delegate the determination of the default budget to the municipal budget committee which has been adopted under RSA 32:14?" 

For passage, both articles will require a 60% majority.  In 2006, two similar articles on the town ballot received 52% of the vote but failed due to the required 3/5 majority.  Last year, this article appeared on the school ballot and received just under 49% of the vote.

Why is passage of these articles so important?

Town Article 22 and School Article 6 seek to transfer responsibility for calculating the town and school default budget (respectively) from those two governing bodies to the Budget Committee.  I believe such a transfer is in the best interests of Goffstown taxpayers for many reasons.

The very idea of default budgets was conceived and legislated as a “safety net” for governing bodies such as the town and school to provide them with at least some monies with which to operate should their requested budget be voted down at Town Meeting.  It is only common sense that a default budget would be necessary in such an eventuality.

Here are a few good reasons to support these articles:

1. Both the Board of Selectmen and the school board have stated recently that the current system of having the town and school calculate the default budgets and the Budget Committee calculate the operating budgets is a sound method of ensuring checks and balances.  But the formula for calculating default budgets is outlined in NH state law, specifically RSA 40:13.  That formula must be followed no matter who calculates the default budget, whether it be the town, school or the Budget Committee.  When evaluating a system of true checks and balances, one must consider that the town and school each have a stake in the final default calculation.  The Budget Committee does not.  
2. Currently the individual town default budget amounts are calculated by finance, then presented to the selectmen and school board for adoption.  This is not done during public meetings.  If the Budget Committee were to have the responsibility of presenting this number to the citizens of Goffstown, each amount that is adjusted would be discussed in public during an open budget committee meeting.
3. Proof that something is amiss in the way the town and the school are calculating their default budgets lies in the fact that BOTH of their operating budgets are higher than their proposed operating budgets this year.  In fact, this is the second year in a row this has happened on the school side.  The result of their calculations is the direct opposite of the very purpose of default budgets.

I urge all Goffstown voters to support Town Article 22 and School Article 6, as it is my hope and belief that should these articles receive the needed 3/5 majority to pass, the Budget Committee would thereafter calculate the default budgets in public, with detailed analysis of each and every reduction or increase from the previous year’s operating budget.

It is amazing to me that both the Board of Selectmen and the School Board chose to NOT recommend these articles, which, if passed, would only serve to promote openness, accountability and transparency in our town and school governments.  

If they've got nothing to hide, and state law provides the formula to be followed, why are they so adamantly opposed to these articles?  

Guy Caron can be reached via e-mail at: GuyC@GoffstownResidentsAssociation.com

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