Updated and corrected Feb. 27, 2009
The Finance Committee is developing a survey to gauge voter sentiment about how scarce resources should be allocated for next year’s budget. Because of time constraints, the survey will not be taken before the fiscal 2010 budget is prepared for the Annual Town Meeting warrant, as previously reported. Committee members said they hope the survey will help educate voters about the difficult decisions they will face at Town Meeting, with the possibility of cuts ranging from minor all the way to complete elimination of programs or services.
At a Finance Committee meeting last Saturday morning, the committee heard about prior surveys, including one conducted by a group called Citizens for Adequate Funding in 1991 before the town’s first successful Proposition 2½ override vote, a survey conducted in 2003 by the Devens Focus Group, and another jointly conducted last spring by the Harvard Press and the Harvard League of Women Voters. Considering the time required to develop and validate those surveys, the committee decided not to try to turn this survey around before completing the fiscal 2010 budget, but to conduct it when it has been properly developed and is ready. Although not available for this budget cycle, the committee expects survey results to be helpful in developing future budgets, or if mid-year “adjustments” are necessary next year. The committee expects to conduct similar surveys in future years to detect changes in voter sentiments.
The survey will include background information about services provided by each town department and how various levels of funding would be applied, reducing or restoring services. Finance Committee members will meet with boards and department heads to develop this material, using a checklist of questions: Key services provided? Metrics to measure and assess performance? Resources used (for example, omnibus budget, volunteers, gifts/grants, capital)? What would you restore if you could? Emerging trends that could influence how services are delivered?
Once the background material is ready, the committee will establish a schedule for the survey.
Note: This article has been corrected and updated. The original article incorrectly reported that the Finance Committee heard about a 1992 survey conducted by Citizens for Adequate Funding. In fact, the CAF survey was in 1991. The 1992 survey described to the committee by Paul Green was led by Green at the request of the Finance Committee.
