As a native of Cotuit, I’ve attended many meetings of the Cotuit Fire District. Over the years, I’ve been sometimes amused and sometimes puzzled by the “goings on.” But I have to say that this year’s meeting tops the list.
At several points during the discussion on articles ranging from health insurance to paving roads on District land, voters rose to amend the motion on the floor or to question why we had to raise money through taxes when we had available a large amount of “free cash.” The current hard economic times were also cited as a reason to hold the tax rate down. Had these articles been successfully amended, about $500,000 in free cash would have been expended.
Yet when it came to the last article in the warrant, which would have transferred $500,000 free cash to reduce the tax levy, the remaining voters decided they needed to save that money for possible future large expenditures and voted it down.
The Treasurer and the Prudential Committee members had recommended approval of this transfer, using about half of the amount of certified free cash.
By voting down Article 30, the voters gave themselves a sizable jump in their taxes. Am I the only one who sees some inconsistency here?
Cotuit Prudential Committee