To the editor:

Following the normal budgeting procedure, the town administrator, having received input from department heads, forwarded to the Town Council a municipal budget request. The Town Council then commenced its task of discussion about, and tweaking of, this request, and what emerged was a real compromise budget the Town Council could forward to the Budget Committee where not every town department or agency would get its request yet where an opportunity could be seized to apply the casino gaming revenue toward taxpayer relief and capital improvements.

In fact, the Town Council’s expectation and assumption underlying its budget recommendation to the Budget Committee is that all sides would come together by January 1, 2020 to hash out a workable budget for the town as it moves forward. The Budget Committee then undertook its process of creating the budget that would be brought forward to the voters at the Financial Town Referendum [FTR] on May 18.

The Budget Committee changed some budget line items from the Town Council recommended municipal budget, but its changes further offered compromise and a movement toward agreement. After all this input, from department heads, to the town administrator, to the Town Council, and then the final review by the Budget Committee, with its continued input from department heads and committees, the resulting product is Budget #1 with its 1.5% decrease in the tax levy (meaning your taxes go down compared to last year).

I voted for the Town Council recommended municipal budget because it offered tax relief and because it represented a welcome optimism that the “coming together” plan to hash out budgets going forward will eliminate the annual divisive budget battles for limited resources and instead will bring a new civility within the community.

The annual casino gaming revenue has provided a distinct opportunity to bring our town its much-needed tax relief (we are still the highest taxed town of all neighboring towns) and the necessary attention to its capital needs. Budget #1 will ensure a budget agreed upon by all and not a power grab by some. I want to take this opportunity to bring Tiverton together with lower taxes and civil governance and urge voters at the FTR to do the same.

Please vote for Budget #1 at the Financial Town Referendum this Saturday, May 18, at the High School, with early voting commencing Friday, May 17, at the Town Hall.

Nancy Driggs

Member, Tiverton Town Council