To the editor:

The only management of the overall tax property rate is by the registered voters at the Financial Town Meeting.

The town manager and the town council manage the municipal budget. The superintendant and the school committee manage the school budget. The appropriations committee makes recommendations to the voters, but only the voters can make the necessary trade-offs to manage the overall budget and tax rate.

Families live within their means by continually adjusting their priorities to manage their bottom line expenses.

The only body setting overall priorities and managing the bottom line for the town is the Financial Town Meeting. All voters want excellent schools and municipal services, but not at any cost. It is our responsibility to achieve these goals within reasonable means.

Fortunately, the Rhode Island Legislature has helped to assure the voters that municipalities live within their means by establishing a 4 percent annual cap on the increase in the tax rate. Removal of this cap puts an even greater burden on the voters at the Financial Town Meeting. 

If the cap is removed at the special Financial Town Meeting on March 16, the voters must pay a lot of attention at the actual Financial Town Meeting on May 24.

Peter Clifford and Adelaide Clifford

Barrington