We just finished preparing the budget for the Town of Woolwich in preparation for Town Meeting in May. The budget process is very important.

This is where we look at last year’s expenditures, determine whether to recommend that the Town keep, increase or eliminate programs. We also consider new expenditures, work with Town Committees, citizen petitions and send out RFPs for things like mowing and trash. While we aren’t mind readers and can’t anticipate unplanned expenses and issues for the coming year, we consider and develop the budget on a nearly weekly basis in the first few months of the calendar year. The Town has no budget committee so the selectboard is tasked with this process.

So I have been dismayed with recent events in Augusta, where budget proposals in this, the second year of the state budget, seem to come on a weekly basis. This is not good budgeting and it’s bad governance. How can legislative committees be expected to plan, and how can state agencies and state clients know what to expect in terms of contracts, services?

The job of the Governor is to submit a supplemental budget to the legislature, not submit bills on a seemingly random basis over a three month period without an overall plan. This is not effective government and we deserve better.

We would never run a town this way. Why should we expect anything else from the state?

Allison Hepler,
Woolwich