Only Acton Voter's Group will
Preserve the Reserve!

"War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength."
George Orwell

CLICK HERE to read why you should vote YES

Our opponents, representing the status quo in town, claim that their plan will "preserve the reserve" yet that isn't what their literature shows! Their Orwellian use of the word "preserve" contrasts to their plan to spend the reserves down from $8 million to less than $1 million in just three years!

Once those reserves are spent, get ready. They are going to ask the voters for an Multi-million dollar GENERAL OVERRIDE for FY 2012. (CLICK HERE for the FY2012 ALG spreadsheets. See line 52.)

SECRETS REVEALED! Read the ALG minutes - WHAT THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT UPCOMING OVERRIDES!

How will we get such a big deficit in one year? Here is the disturbing answer:

The town plans on SPENDING DOWN THE RESERVES each year until almost none is left. Then their budget will be way out of balance and they will force voters to choose between a huge override and massive budget cuts.

This is one reason why Acton Voters Group urges a "yes" vote at the October 2 Special Town Meeting. By returning these funds to the taxpayers, THEY CANNOT BE SPENT DOWN!

No one wants to see 50, 100, or 150 town and school employees laid off. But that's their plan. Use the reserves to bolster operational spending, then make the voters approve an override or face drastic, unimaginable spending cuts.

How do we know this? Because history is repeating itself!

This is exactly the same plan they used four or five years ago in Acton. It is not surprising to see the same proponents of the status quo defending the same actions that caused a $3.8 million, divisive override just three years ago. CLICK HERE to see how our reserves were spent down to almost nothing in 2005.

Back in 2003, Acton had decent reserve levels. Then the town leaders at that time figured out that if they spent down the reserves, they could sustain higher spending levels for a couple of years. And then...WHAM! Out came a major override that voters felt compelled to vote for, otherwise they would suffer dire consequences. There was talk of massive layoffs, school closings, class sizes of 40 or 45 students, layoffs of police and fire, library closings, etc. You name it, it was threatened.

These same scare tactics are being employed this time around. You will hear talk of massive layoffs, but what you won't hear from our opponents is anything about responsible budgeting.

This includes not using reserves for recurring expenses. This includes not "living beyond your means." You won't hear any talk of stopping "after budget surplus spending" that resulted in $95,000 changing rooms and $96,000 brick and cobblestone walkways at Town Hall.

CLICK HERE AVG debunks other dubious claims by our opponents. CLICK HERE to continue reading MORE FALSE CLAIMS REBUTTED

The ONLY way to prevent history from repeating itself is to stop the spending of reserves on recurring operating expenses. The only way to do this is to return excess reserves to the taxpayers and then get involved in the upcoming town meetings so we don't make the same mistakes twice.

In the recent literature published by our opponents, they conveniently show just two years of spending after this fiscal year. They are hiding the Fiscal Year 2012 plans which have been available for weeks. The plan is to use additional reserves in FY 2012, leaving about $1.4 million for emergencies, and the budgets will have a deficit of over $2.4 million! And that is a conservative estimate. This can be made up only by spending cuts or a large override. Guess what tactics they will use (again) to coerce voters into approving an override?

The Acton Voters Group says "Stop the Madness." We encourage voters to get involved and demand an end to this dangerous and wrong practice.