Mr. Moderator...

Sandy Gleed - President of North Andover United Inc.

North Andover United has worked very hard over the past year to provide accurate and complete information to the citizens of North Andover.  We strongly believe that the future of our town depends on receiving honest answers to honest questions.  Voters need to be informed, in order to make financially responsible decisions.

Selectman Rick Nardella said it well, when he said that we ought to manage our finances carefully so that we can avoid the need for future operational overrides. 

Article 19, as well as article 22, (the police station and preschool articles), put us at high risk of annual budget shortfalls from 2010 to 2015.  Regardless of which five-year financial forecast is correct, passage of these articles will REQUIRE annual operational overrides, possibly starting as early as 2010.  If these operational overrides fail, we’ll see cuts in both municipal and school services far deeper than any we’ve ever experienced in the past.

The question is not "Do we need these buildings?" - we ABSOLUTELY do.  These are long-overdue capital improvements that will serve town residents well.

The question is:  How can we pay for them? 

It is true that the building projects alone will not put us over the edge - it’s the combination of a slowing economy, dwindling revenues, rising union contract costs, rising health insurance and retirement benefit costs, rising regular expenses like fuel and utility costs, AND adding debt service costs for new building projects that may push our budget further into the negative numbers. 

We must look at our municipal budget as a combination package - we must know:  what our revenues and expenses are, what the risks of taking on more debt are, and what our payment alternatives are.

Tonight, we have insufficient financial information to vote to build either the police station or the preschool building. 

Please vote "NO" on this article, and "NO" on article 22 as well.  Voting "NO" does not necessarily mean you don’t support the police station or preschool; we should not abandon these sound proposals.  However, voters should not be asked to make a decision of this magnitude without a thorough understanding of the long-term financial impact on our town services.

Please join NAU in asking our elected leaders to bring these proposals back, at a future town meeting, when they have finalized the union contracts; when the October 1st deadline for joining the state health insurance plan has passed; and when our finance committee and town manager have achieved a united financial forecast.

Rather than our town leaders asking us "How much are you willing to risk to build these buildings?"  NAU says. "Wait six months, put the projects back on the table then, and show us (1)  whether you have achieved affordable union contracts, (2)  whether you have lowered the town’s expenses by joining the State Insurance Plan and (3) an accurate, up-to-date picture of how much money we really have to spend.  Allow us to make financially responsible decisions for the future of our town."

Thank you!