******PRESS RELEASE********
The April 12th Tiverton Town Council Agenda includes an effort by the Town Council to authorize the town to exceed the State Mandated Tax Cap. Although the Financial Town Meeting budget proposed by the Budget Committee keeps the July 1st 2010 tax increase under the 4.5% RIGL CAP, Monday night (April 12) the Town Council may adopt a motion to exceed the 4.5% CAP and/or vote to seek permission from the State to exceed the CAP! This is unprecedented in Tiverton’s history! We need your participation and your help to defeat any effort to exceed the State Mandated Cap! Please see the attachments for background.
In a year when ALL of the Labor contracts in the town are expired or are to be re-negotiated, the Town Council and School Committee have failed to achieve any concessions from the expensive labor contracts which represent approximately 70% of the total budget and currently provide unaffordable benefits, pensions and uninterrupted pay raises to the public unions. These contracts are unaffordable and Citizens of Tiverton need our leaders to say “ENOUGH!”
TCC feels that the taxpayers of Tiverton cannot afford this uninterrupted upward spiral of rising costs, while at the same time promoting an unwelcoming environment to local businesses. Proponents of the status quo [we will name names below] cite outrageous cuts in public services, that we are “dismantling the Town”, “would gut the system”, and result in “complete devastation of the system.” These arguments are intentionally misleading and are intended as scare tactics to obscure their support for organized labor. Led by Louise Durfee, Joanne Arruda and Carol Herrmann, this tax and spend approach again lays the burden on the local taxpayers, and rewards the unions for foot-dragging and obstruction. These deliberate actions are designed to cause alarm and deflect responsibility. We encourage all Tiverton taxpayers to resist all attempts to exceed the State Mandated Cap. TCC has asked the School Committee not to cut a single student program, not to cut needed supplies and books, and instead obtain concessions. Sally Black, Lenny Wright and Carol Herrmann all refused to do so, cutting programs, technology, and books instead – as their chosen alternative to labor concessions.
Please attend the Town Council Meeting, Monday, and the May 8th Financial Town Meeting to protect your rights.
Tiverton Citizens for Change supports the Budget Committee proposal and we will work to defend it at the upcoming FTM on May 8 at the High School.
Dave Nelson
President Tiverton Citizens for Change
info@tivertoncc.com
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