Which is why we have reserve funds.

I am hoping someone can help me understand more about two things referenced in this article. Firstly, am I understanding that Sudbury will be on the hook for a $500,000 INCREASE in payments to Minuteman? In reading that, I assume that means Sudbury is already paying a certain amount to the school. How many Sudbury students go to this school? I would love to know how much funding is necessary per student attending Minuteman because that sized increase seems awfully exhorbitant.

Secondly, I just do not understand the need for overrides for additional students that are coming through the school system. If there is a need for additional funds, it stands to reason that those funds would be returned to the taxpayers when there is a decrease in students.

The Town Crier reported there is nearly one million in cash reserves. LS has been building up cash reserves while charging fees for things like parking in parking lots already paid for with tax dollars. LS has been building up cash reserves while asking for overrides and threatening the education of our children. LS has been building up cash reserves while constantly complaining about their funding. Is there actually a budget plan to build up to a million dollars in cash reserves? Please at least tell me this money is being invested and not just setting around. Is anyone responsible auditing these budgets and making them public? It seems every time there is a reason to not expect an override to pass, money is found. This is clearly inappropriate and unfair to the taxpayers. That money should be given back to the taxpayers and LS should get its act together and manage the school efficiently. Every taxpayer should be mad as hell about this!

When are we going to get some intelligent finance PROFESIONALS managing our tax dollars?

pmotw, I respect your posts, but would ask you to consider the following. A "rainy day fund" seems to me a reasonable source of funds in event of a few extra students one year or a winter when the plowing budget does not suffice as examples. It allows the town some flexibility for extraordinary events without having to ask for an override.
Having said that, it should be a modest amount (I believe Wayland residents just got a dramatic refund because their rainy day fund had gotten extremely large.)

correction; "PROFESSIONALS"

Reasonable "Rainy day" funds are fine. A million dollars sitting around doing nothing is excessive in my opinion. Unfortunately there appears to be more than just one "Rainy day" fund. The postage fund is just one example. To me these are red flags that cannot be ignored. A complete independent audit is necessary with results made public.

Wayland made the appropriate decision to pay back the taxpayers. I have little to no faith our town would do that. They would find somewhere else to spend it and ask for more. It's such a shame people cannot trust the government to do whats right.

Respect ya back Mr. Dude.

Wayland got their refund (actually a lowered tax rate) by getting citizens to sign a petition and submitting an article to a special town meeting. Feel free to do the same here.

Does it really take a petition to get the government to do the right thing?

No, but my guess is that they built up their rainy day fund in anticipation of this. Had they refunded the excess funds to the taxpayers we would be looking at a big-time override next year for LS.