We’re confident that other letters to the editor will provide reasons to vote YES to support the override in the Acton Town Election on April 30, and vote YES on the town and school budgets at Acton Town Meeting on May 6.
But trust is also on the ballot, and we’d like to address this important issue.
Our friends and neighbors, who serve our community as elected members of the Select Board and School Committee or as appointed members of the Finance Committee, have spent long hours wrestling with the need for Acton’s first override vote in 19 years. And they: agreed early on that Acton needed an override. And other many other communities in Massachusetts are also in the same financial position and trying to pass an override this spring.
- found that funding the current level of services was not a viable option. So, even if the override passes, there will still be painful cuts to the town and school’s budgets.
- understood that health insurance cost increases were one of the biggest drivers of the need for an override. So, the town and school district signed an agreement with all our local unions to dissolve the Acton Health Insurance Trust (HIT) and join the Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association (MIIA) starting on July 1, 2024.
- recognized that we don’t want to find ourselves in the same position next year. So, they agree that the “A” budget, which goes into effect if the override passes, uses only $5.4 million of the $6.6 million allowed in Fiscal Year 2025. In other words, it’s an authorization, not an appropriation.
Much of this is not widely known because we no longer have a weekly newspaper. Fortunately, the advent of The Acton Exchange seeks to fill that void and provide us with the local news source.
We are seniors who lived here for decades, and the schools brought us here. Our children graduated years ago but benefitted from the quality of Acton’s educational system. It’s time to pay it forward and educate the next generation.
Bob and Deena Ferrara