Community Corner

Time to Vote on East Hampton Budget

Quiet process leaves town unsure about outcome.

It’s that time of the year again in East Hampton.

The sometimes contentious budget process heads to referendum on Tuesday with town officials again wondering just how the vote will turn out. The uncertainty, however, is not a result of heated debates or residents turning out to express concern over the proposed budget. On the contrary, this budget season has been, in a word, serene.

In fact, few residents chose to attend the board of finance or town council meetings to discuss the budget, leaving the town a bit in the dark as to what to expect.

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“I’m amazed at the lack of dialogue, positive or negative, there’s been absolutely nothing,” council member Thom Cordeiro said.  “I can remember last year it was a little more contentious. I just think that so much has been done already to the budget. It’s already really lean to begin with. A lot of concessions have been made by education and the teachers that extended into this year. So, I think education has really done their part and the town government is at negative growth. It’s actually a lower spending number than last year.

“Hopefully people recognize that. The fear with no dialogue is that people kind of forget about the day in general and don’t even come out and that would be a bad thing.”

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Said board of finance member Patience Anderson: “It is troubling. I think as a board of finance member, you’re trying to do your due diligence and represent your constituents. Without their input, although there has been some input, it hasn’t been the volume that everyone on the board probably would have liked.”

Overall, spending is being reduced by $136,000 over the last fiscal year. The mill rate, however, will increase. The mill rate is projected to be 25.74, a .76 increase over 2010-11 because of the revaluation.

Still, about 60 percent of residents will see a zero percent increase.

The board of finance had cut the town manager’s proposed budget by $250,000 before sending it to the council. Among those cuts was $146,600 in education spending.

The town council then added an additional $71,798 in cuts, bringing the total cuts to $321,798. The council did not cut further from the education budget. The vote was unanimous.

“I do think what is encouraging is that [the council] did make additional adjustments to the budget downward. What was very encouraging to me was that there was a consensus. And I would think from the residents’ perspective that all three steps of the process have been addressed,” said Anderson, referring to the town manager, board of finance and town council all making an effort to keep spending down by making cuts.

Last year the budget did pass on the first attempt but not without a lot of work and a lot of concern expressed by residents, especially over cuts to the education budget. So, is the quiet nature of this year’s process a sign of a positive outcome on Tuesday?

“I’m going to hope it is an endorsement of what we’ve done and people understand we’re doing what’s right and will turn out and support it on Tuesday,” Cordeiro said. “I’m sure there are a lot of people that are still frustrated. There are a lot of unemployed people. There are people not making what they made last year. Oil, gas and food have all gone up, so even if you are making the same amount as you were making last year, your money is not going as far as it did. So we recognize that, and I really think there was a conscious effort to do the best we could to arrive at zero.”

The economy, and its impact on residents, has been a consideration throughout the process.

“We have to do what’s best for the town and all of the residents,” Anderson said. “When you don’t have anything to really go on, you just have to use your common sense. We’ve been through a period now, this is the second year, of a depressed economy. It’s like a snowball effect. People are getting further and further behind and they’re having more and more difficulty making ends meet.”

Another problem with not hearing from residents during the process is that, should the budget fail, the reason why won’t be clear. Is the budget being cut too much or not enough? Should education be cut more or maybe government less?

“It almost seems like people have resigned themselves to the fact that this is a process and maybe they don’t feel like their input is necessary, that they can just vote the way they want to at the voting booth and they can have their voice heard there,” Anderson said.

Should that voice result in defeat, it will be back to the drawing board.

“I know it’s a lean budget and I hope it is accepted by the community because the next steps would be more drastic and affect people even more,” Cordeiro said. “I would think we’d have to look at education, unfortunately, because you’re already negative in general government. I hope people recognize that and turn out on Tuesday.”

Referendum voting will take place at the high school from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. The board of finance will meet at the high school library/media center at 8:05 p.m.


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