I would like to know how the Select Board can justify granting the town manager, town clerk and town treasurer salary increases when many townspeople are struggling to make ends meet with prices going up on everything from heating oil and gasoline to food and building materials. With many families hurting right now, especially those on fixed incomes, we don't need another jab in our wallets and purses, along with an already inflated budget increase. I hope the Select Board is proud of themselves for making this decision; we will remember this come election time, and I hope the people who are supposed to be getting these salary increases remember whom they are getting the money from: we, the taxpayers.
But it is still up to us, the voters. We have the final word. As for me, I am voting "no" on the budget. I think there is more fat that can be trimmed from it.
All of you who feel the same as I do, I urge you to vote "no" and let them know who has the final word!
Stephen Pratt
Bennington
