Writing about Lancaster, Massachusetts

  Photo by StellrWeb on Unsplash On Monday at noon the Select Board will review the warrant for a November 14th Special Town Meeting. One item that needs some attention will be a mid-year request to appropriate an additional $231,160.  The budget approved in May, which covers the town's fiscal year from July 1, 2022 through June 31st, 2023, approved $25,841,636 in appropriations. The $231,160 would be allocated to cover: $85,975 in projected additional utility costs.    I don't think anyone will be surprised at a projected increase in expenses for electricity (up $30,000 to $80,000)  or heating oil (up $30,000 to $50,000).    I think my electric and oil bills have also increased about $30,000. $2,500 in projected additional expenses for "Street Lights."   $ 83,685 in additional "Snow and Ice" costs.    The increase would cover a projected $83,685 increase in costs for road salt.   (From $50,000 to $133,685)    The town's salt costs appear to have increa

  " At this point I will not forward any additional material.  I am tired of people playing the 'gotcha' game, only to try again and again when they fail. "  Finance Committee Member Dick Trussell, in an email to a resident, refusing to reveal the calculations behind the "Financial Analysis" released over the weekend.   Last week residents found that arithmetic errors changed the value of the report by almost $1,000,000. Last night the Finance Committee held and emergency friday-night meeting to review town meeting articles and the Capital Group "Financial Analysis."    After the chair declined to take questions from the residents who attended, one Finance Committee member declined to take any action to endorse it:  saying if the committee is deferring any questions, she's going to "defer her vote." The "Financial Analysis" was the basis for several documents published by the town over the last week, and it's murky natur

The Finance Committee's "Financial Analysis" should be withdrawn Over the weekend the town released a "Financial Analysis" of the Capital Group's project in North Lancaster.   It is not just wrong, it's absurd.  Compared to a reasonable estimate it overstates the "Education Costs" that would result from "No" votes by around $3.5 Million. The "Analysis" attempts to project the impact the impact of our approval (or disapproval) of the marquee warrant articles at the November 14th Special Town Meeting.   It projects that "Yes" votes to approve the expansion of the "Enterprise Zone" and creation of a 40R district would improve the town budget by $3,553,668.00, and "No" votes would cost the town $734,426 per year. The most conspicuous numbers on the "Analysis" sheet are the education costs for the two scenarios.   The assumption behind the projection is that a "Yes" vote will lead