{"id":2826,"date":"2022-02-24T18:54:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-24T23:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/?p=2826"},"modified":"2022-02-25T19:00:47","modified_gmt":"2022-02-26T00:00:47","slug":"on-slush-funds-and-article-7-vote-no","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/2022\/02\/24\/on-slush-funds-and-article-7-vote-no\/","title":{"rendered":"On slush funds and Article 7 &#8211; Vote NO"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Posted this on the listserv on Wednesday. Thought I would also post it here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Norwich has had a slush fund for years. It\u2019s called the undesignated fund. VOTER approval is needed to spend that money. Under Article 7, the Selectboard is given control of up to $800,000 of that cash, limited by only an extremely broad purpose statement. Sadly, this shift in control from Voters to the Selectboard is not explicitly mentioned in the Board\u2019s video presentation on Article 7. That\u2019s a big oversight. Plus, the Selectboard presentation never explains why this sea change in policy is needed or useful. ** <\/p><p>I use the term &#8220;slush fund\u201d to refer to a pile of money kept in reserve to handle expenses outside the scope of a budget. Families might have a slush fund to cover an emergency expense or a spur-of-the-moment vacation. Businesses might use one for cost overruns or on a new project.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>The reserve fund created by Article 7 strikes me as a slush fund, because its use is largely left to the discretion of future Selectboards.&nbsp; The reserve is not limited to dire emergencies, where money is needed yesterday.&nbsp; Also, the Town Manager has suggested that \u201cother unforeseen circumstances\u201d in the purpose statement is broad enough to cover any item not in the budget.&nbsp; Pet projects? Project overruns? &nbsp;<\/p><p>Our Town Treasurer says in a listserv post that the purpose of the Article 7 fund is \u201cnot specific enough and leaves room for subjectivity.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>One item not covered by Article 7 \u2013 reducing the property tax rate. Swell. What\u2019s more, although the Article 7 reserve fund is capped at around $800,000, spending of that reserve can be manipulated to further access the undesignated fund.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Should voters worry about a future Selectboard that is not thrifty? Voter oversight is a good thing. Checks and balances.<\/p><p>In Norwich, the undesignated fund consists of accumulated budget surpluses &#8211; taxpayer money. I don\u2019t see the need for the broad sweep of Article 7. &nbsp;The Selectboard has not made any case for giving up voter control, whether the fund is a slush fund or something else. &nbsp;Article 7 is a bridge too far.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\">&#8211;  &#8211;   &#8211;<\/h6>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>** Statements along the lines of \u2018reserve funds are established by voters\u2019 are incomplete. It doesn\u2019t inform voters that, in the case of Article 7, that voters cede control of funds to the Selectboard. Also, statements such as \u2018Article 7 ensures the Town maintain reserves\u2019 are similarly problematic. Leaving the money in the undesignated fund accomplishes the same thing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\">*  *  *<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Posted this on the listserv on Wednesday. Thought I would also post it here. Norwich has had a slush fund for years. It\u2019s called the undesignated fund. VOTER approval is needed to spend that money. Under Article 7, the Selectboard is given control of up to $800,000 of that cash, limited by only an extremely broad purpose statement. Sadly, this shift in control from Voters to the Selectboard is not explicitly mentioned in the Board\u2019s video presentation on Article 7. <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/2022\/02\/24\/on-slush-funds-and-article-7-vote-no\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  On slush funds and Article 7 &#8211; Vote NO<\/span><span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2687,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[74,21,15,12,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article-7-2022","category-town-finance","category-town-meeting","category-undesignated-fund","category-undesignated-fund-town-finance"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>On slush funds and Article 7 - Vote NO - Norwich Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/2022\/02\/24\/on-slush-funds-and-article-7-vote-no\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"On slush funds and Article 7 - Vote NO - Norwich Observer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Posted this on the listserv on Wednesday. Thought I would also post it here. Norwich has had a slush fund for years. It\u2019s called the undesignated fund. VOTER approval is needed to spend that money. Under Article 7, the Selectboard is given control of up to $800,000 of that cash, limited by only an extremely broad purpose statement. Sadly, this shift in control from Voters to the Selectboard is not explicitly mentioned in the Board\u2019s video presentation on Article 7. Continue reading  On slush funds and Article 7 &#8211; Vote NO&rarr;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/2022\/02\/24\/on-slush-funds-and-article-7-vote-no\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Norwich Observer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-02-24T23:54:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-02-26T00:00:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/unnamed-file.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"474\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"474\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"CTK\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CTK\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/norwichobserver.com\\\/index.php\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/24\\\/on-slush-funds-and-article-7-vote-no\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/norwichobserver.com\\\/index.php\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/24\\\/on-slush-funds-and-article-7-vote-no\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"CTK\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/norwichobserver.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7c777bca932c48863421eb322d49c18d\"},\"headline\":\"On slush funds and Article 7 &#8211; 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Thought I would also post it here. Norwich has had a slush fund for years. It\u2019s called the undesignated fund. VOTER approval is needed to spend that money. Under Article 7, the Selectboard is given control of up to $800,000 of that cash, limited by only an extremely broad purpose statement. Sadly, this shift in control from Voters to the Selectboard is not explicitly mentioned in the Board\u2019s video presentation on Article 7. 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