To the Editor:
What part of the word “budget” doesn’t Middlebury First Selectman Ed St. John understand? In a recent article in the Waterbury paper that highlighted the Board of Finance’s Nov. 12, 2015, meeting, Mr. St. John mentioned that the Police Department is over budget.
It is the first selectman’s job to run the town within the confines of the taxpayer-approved budget. When a department is over budget, other departments must have their spending reduced to bring the budget into balance. Reducing spending is the hard part; it is what the first selectman is paid to do.
Once again, Mr. St. John is shirking his responsibility. Mr. St. John should be identifying the departments he will reduce spending in to bring the budget back within the amount of money the taxpayers approved. The taxpayers should expect the budget they voted for to be adhered to.
Michael McCormack
Chairman, Board of Finance
Middlebury
