Thursday, May 16, 2013
Voting on the town's $47 million budget starts today at the Town Hall.
Early voting for Tiverton's $47 million budget at the Tiverton Financial Town Referendum begins today at the Town Hall. The 2013-14 budget represents a 2.2 percent increase in the town's property tax rate to cover operations increases - the real and tangible tax levy accounts for 77 percent of Tiverton's revenue while non-local property as well as motor vehicle, federal and state tax support the remainder of the budget. A majority of voters must approve the school transfer of $28.7 million and operations expenses totalling $18.4 million in order to unlock the funding and authorize the tax rate for the 2013-14 budgetary year. The proposed increase in the property tax rate is estimated to cause a 38-cent increase to homeowners - bringing the…
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Sixteen residents filed suit against the town in Superior Court last year and are seeking a refund from alleged overtaxing by the town in fiscal year 2011.
A Superior Court judge denied Tiverton's motion for a summary judgment on Monday that would have disposed of a lawsuit by 16 residents seeking a refund over alleged overtaxing by the town in fiscal year 2011. The group of citizens involved in the case claim the property-tax increase in the 2010-11 budget year was illegal because it exceeded the state mandated cap on the levy increase without the support of a four-fifths majority of the Town Council. "Our biggest fear, we still fear, that the previous power mongers are going to try to revive the Financial Town Meeting," said Jim O'Dell, a named plaintiff in the suit against the town. "If they do revive it, then we are back at square one with the tax cap." On Monday, the town requested the …
Friday, April 6, 2012
The Budget Committee's 30-page fiscal 2012-13 budget proposal raises the property tax levy 2.71 percent.
The fiscal 2012-13 Tiverton budget proposal went live on the town's website today. The 30-page document, attached to this post, contains the Budget Committee's proposals, resolutions and docket for the Tuesday, May 15 financial town referendum. The local taxation summary states the proposed local tax rate is $18.90. The one approved by voters in the last financial town meeting was $15.71. On Friday, Town Clerk Nancy Mello said the Town Council and School Committee have up until April 8 to submit resolutions or petitions. Citizens have between April 10 and April 17 to submit petitions to the Town Clerk's Office.
41.624607
-71.207474
Tiverton Town Hall
343 Highland Rd, Tiverton, RI
/articles/tiverton-financial-town-referendum-docket-posted
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/locations/6827202
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
The Tiverton School Committee also voted Tuesday night to support the library bond.
The Tiverton School Committee is standing behind the age-old Tiverton Financial Town Meeting as the best way to approve town spending. The committee voted to oppose the effort to create a new financial town referendum during its Tuesday night meeting. The committee voted 3-0 against the proposal, which will appear as Question 2 on the special election ballot this Nov. 8. Committee Chairwoman Sally Black and members Deborah Pallasch and Carol Hermann voted against the proposal. Committee member Jan Bergandy abstained from voting, and Vice Chairwoman Danielle Coulter recused herself. Also Tuesday night, the committee voted 3-1 in favor of the proposed library bond, which is Question 1 on the Nov. 8 ballot. Black, Pallasch and Hermann voted …
41.628317
-71.16656
Tiverton High School
100 N Brayton Rd, Tiverton, RI
/articles/tiverton-school-committee-opposes-financial-town-referendum-creates-stir
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Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Tiverton resident Bob Gaw writes a letter to the editor in support of the proposed financial town referendum as Question 2 the Nov. 8 special election.
- OPINION
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Tuesday, October 25, 2011
One of the best decision making tools is called the "Ben Franklin decision making tool." You’ve all used it and it is very simple. Take a blank piece of paper, draw a line down the middle and list all the reasons for and against a decision. On the left side list all the reasons to keep the Financial Town Meeting (FTM) in the gymnasium (sometimes overflowing into the auditorium) on a Saturday morning or two. On the right side, list the reasons to adopt a more contemporary system which gives every voter a chance to have an accurately counted vote, in private, just like all our other elections. Can you imagine having a presidential election using a count of hands or by "yeas" and "nays"? The people with the most to gain are usually the most …
Monday, October 24, 2011
Resident and former Tiverton Town Councilor Brian Medeiros writes a letter to the editor in strong opposition to the financial town referendum proposal on the Nov. 8 ballot.
- OPINION
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Monday, October 24, 2011
To the editor: On Nov. 8, Tiverton voters decide on a change to the town charter, replacing the financial town meeting (FTM) with a financial town referendum (FTR) as the way Tiverton decides budgets and taxes. As someone with a long-time commitment to finding a workable replacement for the FTM, I am adamantly opposed to this FTR plan. Instead of a consensus improvement, this is a politically-motivated plan designed to give a political minority the ability to defeat the will of the majority. While the political spin says the FTR would be more democratic, it would actually allow politicians to overrule voters’ decisions. The most outrageous feature of this FTR plan is that it would allow any two Town Councilors to overrule the decisions of…
Friday, October 21, 2011
A group trying to get rid of Tiverton's financial town meeting calls police after one of their signs goes missing.
Tiverton Police received a report Thursday of a stolen campaign sign asking residents for a supporting vote in the Nov. 8 special election. According to Nancy Driggs, lead organizer of the Voters of the FTR, they placed support signs on properties on Wednesday to those who gave permission to do so. She reported to police one of their Vote Yes signs was stolen after being placed in front of Susan's Restaurant, with the owner's permission, at the Bliss Four Corners intersetion. Voters of the FTR is a grassroots group formed to support the proposal to change Tiverton's budget-voting structure from the financial town meeting to a financial town referendum. According to Lt. Patrick Jones on Thursday, police are investigating the report.
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-71.146647
Susan's Restaurant
13 Crandall Rd, Tiverton, RI
/articles/tiverton-referendum-sign-reported-stolen
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Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Resident Justin Katz weighs in on the proposed financial town referendum for Tiverton.
- OPINION
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Tuesday, September 13, 2011
It's beginning to look like the case for a Financial Town Referendum (FTR) in Tiverton will be easier to make than I'd expected, because thus far, the majority of objections have involved a misconception that will be a simple matter to clarify. One gets the impression, reading various letters to the editor, that the budgets on which residents will vote at an FTR will be developed in secret and revealed only when poll workers hand over the ballots. To appreciate just how inaccurate such impressions are, consider the system as it currently stands with a financial town meeting: The Budget Committee puts together the budget that will appear on the docket. It holds multiple public meetings and hearings until its members are satisfied that the …
Monday, September 12, 2011
Resident and Budget Committee member Joe Sousa writes a Letter to the Editor about the proposed change on how the town approves its future municipal budgets.
- OPINION
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Monday, September 12, 2011
After reading several letters describing problems with the proposed charter change to the Financial Town Referendum, I felt compelled to write this letter. The first thing I notice is most of the detractors are the same people who brought Tiverton in to the serious financial situation we are in now. With a $47 million unfunded combined pension and benefit liability, we have gave away more contractually than we can afford. That's right! $47 million. The pension payment for next year for teachers, town workers and retirees is expected to increase from $1,884,183 to $3,317,277. That's $1.5 million the taxpayers will have to pick up, and it's because we gave away too much in contractual obligations over the years - free health, dental, eye …
Robert Oliveira
1:43 pm on Friday, May 17, 2013
Joe, in a published report, the Town Administrator just contradicted your claim. He also added fuel to the one person/one vote fire. Please take it up with him. more ›