Unclear Benefits

Is there any data on taxes, costs, services, performance and efficiency? NO

Will tax bills go down?  NO.

  •  No data was presented to show that this form of government will reduce taxes for residents.

  •  There is no correlation between forms of government and spending or taxation.

  •  The salary and benefits will increase for a Town Manager and her/his assistants. No projected offsetting savings have been identified by the TGSC or Selectmen.

 

Will services improve?  NO.

  •  Centralized governments are less responsive to citizen needs.

  •  Shifting responsibility for managing departments away from elected officials reduces their ability to influence service quality.

  •  The Town Manager will be much less accountable to you than your elected officials currently are. Currently, if you don’t like what boards are doing in town, you can vote to replace them.

  •   This change will not affect any of the real challenges facing our town—congestion, loss of open space, increased taxes or school overcrowding.

 

Proponents are counting on you to vote for this measure based on what you hope will happen, not what actually will happen.