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Amherst Center: Business as usual or plan for change?

Overrides tend to be highly charged and emotional. "No more overrides!" shout the opponents, yet we've only passed one override since 1994. "Focus on core functions!" they say, while our school and town managers waste six months a year wrestling with uncertain resources instead of focusing on teaching, public safety and potholes. "Cut administrators!" they holler, when administrators are only 3 percent of our school staff and being cut further.

We can keep chasing our tails and shouting at each other, or we can take a deep breath, accept the reality that our financial picture doesn't add up, and adopt a real plan to fix things: the Finance Committee's three-year Amherst Plan.

A "Yes" vote on Tuesday tells the town to (1) control spending through immediate budget cuts and a three-year cap on budget increases, (2) aggressively pursue new revenue sources to broaden the tax base, and (3) plan ahead, with a $2.5 million override this year and no additional overrides for at least three years.

We support the Amherst Plan, and here's why.

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http://www.amherstbulletin.com/story/id/39407/