Note: TownofAndover.com's Greg Rigby sent a version of this letter to both the Board of Selectmen & Finance Committee
As a former member of the Finance Committee, it is difficult for me not to say I told you so, but…
While the Board of Selectmen and Town Manager gave away the store in benefits in union contracts and continually failed to pay for them under the “watchful eyes” of the Finance Committee the residents trusted that both of your boards had the taxpayer’s best interest at heart.
Alas, it wasn’t so. As we discovered in the Lawrence Eagle Tribune Editorial: Public pension shortfalls threaten municipal solvency.
You approved municipal contracts negotiated in favor of the unions not only for larger wages which result in larger pensions, but with increased benefits resulting in higher costs. For over 25 years you and past members have failed to pay for the benefits you promised leaving them to future taxpayers.
You proposed budgets to Town Meeting without explaining the expenses you weren’t funding or worse without the knowledge, understanding, or foresight of simple compounding liabilities. The longer your individual tenure the more ensconced you are in the process, the less receptive you are to fighting for change and the more of the blame you must shoulder. Your solution sounds like a first grader, “every other town is doing it.”
But every town is not doing it. Andover is ranked 83 out of 105 pension systems. Most towns are doing better than Andover.
When a voice rises above the din to suggest a change or highlight a problem it is quickly silenced. Dick Howe, before he resigned from the FinCom in 2011, presented an idea that all contracts be approved by or at least presented to Town Meeting before they were signed. He only received support from newer members and strong opposition by long standing members of the committee. The idea never moved forward.
All the time spent by your boards on budgets over the last 25 years and a grade of “D” is the best you can achieve? You should all be embarrassed. In business you would be forced to resign. Andover deserves better.
