Is it mis-management?

Some have expressed to me that they feel Dartmouth's financial problems are due to mis-management by the town. I feel that mis-management is a loaded term and signifies to some a willful act of disregard or malfeasance. I do not believe that is the case in Dartmouth. It seems to me that what transpired is due to lack of planning or foresight. Dartmouth's government failed to take into account the long term consequences of actions, contracts, and obligations into which they entered. The result of these actions is that the yearly growth in expenditures is not sustainable by revenue growth in the long term. Overrides can mask this situation for short periods but until the rate of growth of spending is reconciled with the rate of growth of revenue, the town will continue to be in fiscal crisis.
Having said that, I can not support an override to add staff to the schools or any other department of the town without considering the long term fiscal consequences. To do so, especially now, is adding folly to grief. Addition of over 20 positions to the school budget in the current situation will only exacerbate our fiscal problem. The first rule when you find yourself in a hole is to stop digging. Some parents don't want to hear this message and understandably feel that their needs are not being met. You don't have to take my word that our financial situation is dire. Ask the Finance Committee or Budget and Revenue Task Force, Select Board, or town administrators. I am sure they will agree that our current situation is unsustainable in the long term, even with overrides. I am not opposed to any override. In fact, the town must have an override this year to avoid having to drastically cut critical services. The school department will get a funding increase this year, that is state mandated. The survival of many other departments in town is what is at stake here. What I advocate is an override that would stabilize the town for a few years and give us time to get our house in order. That override would be sufficient to maintain the operation of all departments of the town at current levels and keep the school spending at Minimum Net School Spending level. The override amount needed would be about $3.75 million. As I have noted before, an override that restored the residential tax rate to the same level as before the tax classification would raise about $3 million. I think that the townspeople can be convinced accept the additional tax burden that the $75K would add. But they have to be convinced that the town is not going to continue on the same path. By limiting the override request as I just outlined, I believe they will pass an override. Conversely, if the townspeople doubt that all departments are committed to live within our means, the override will fail and Dartmouth will be well on it's way to receivership.