Representative Town Meeting Annual Budget Meeting Materials - Day 4 (linked)

David Campo
From: Jeff Hotsky <jhotsky@gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 13, 2020 8:16 PM
To: David Campo
Subject: BOE Budget
| CE oS CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. |
| ‘Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender's email address and know the - |
8 : content is safe. SEES : =
Pee ee ee ee en ee etme ee ee her
My wife and I have resided in the Town of Waterford for over 30 years while raising two children who
attended the Waterford School system. We are very proud to be residents of this town and feel that each
department is second to none in our State.
On occasion I follow the town budget process and most recently I have been made aware of a proposed
significant increase to the Board of Education budget of over $1.6 million dollars. I believe in providing a
quality education for the youth of this town however, as with any budget decisions made we need to be fiscally
responsible. There ave luxury items, nice to have items and necessities. In reviewing past history, it has been
the norm for the towns approval process to grant the majority of the requests made by the Board of Education, a
luxury that cannot be sustained year after year.
I would like to commend those elected officials who took their position and duties serious enough to review
specific details of the budget and make fiscally prudent decisions. Only in our town, can departments be
granted 75% of their budget requests and have citizens respond in a negative manner. Instead, the taxpayers
should be thankful that we have been able to provide the quality of education and the needed budget increases
yeat after year. The most important part of the Board of Education budget relates to the superior education of
our youth, To insinuate that educational positions will be cut to accommodate increases in extra curricular
activities for increases in budget items is the wrong priority for youth, parents and taxpayers for the Town of
Waterford.
In closing, I would like to thank those Board members who are looking out for the overall best interest of the
town. They should be commended,
Sincerely,
Jeffrey J. Hotsky