For Brandon residents Tuesday’s budget vote may feel like déjà vu all over again. While the town’s school budget passed after only two votes, tomorrow will be the fifth time townspeople weigh in on Brandon's municipal budget.
Sheila Gearwar owns a local restaurant and says being the only town in Vermont without a budget is not a title she likes. “I am frustrated. I believe we’re making the cuts in the wrong places.”
Select board members say voters have made it clear they want spending cuts and the local public works, recreation and police departments have all taken a hit in the nearly $3 million municipal budget.
Brandon Town Manager Robin Bennett says it’s been tough on morale. Ironically, she says the cost of holding five elections and interest on a $1.5 million dollar line of credit, something she says the town had to take out because they had no budget, will just add to Brandon’s overheard.
Select board members say the town’s budget problems have been percolating for several years. They say surplus funds that had been regularly used to help reduce tax increases were wiped out by tropical storm Irene. That, coupled with a drop in local revenues caused by the economic downturn, they say, has put Brandon into a difficult situation.
