Protecting the Fuel Tank Process
Last year’s June Town Meeting season was dominated by a passionate debate over when and how to replace Belmont’s Fuel Tanks as well as over the process that would be used for this. Following Town Meeting, it was agreed that Glenn Clancy, the Department of Community Development Director, would analyze fuel tank usage and investigate a wide variety of methods through which fuel could be supplied to town vehicles including the use of RFI’s to obtain usage and cost data from other entities; RFIs are Requests for Information for which no appropriation is needed.
CFRB is Here to Stay - For You
Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” James Baldwin
The recent Select Board election brought out the best and the worst in Belmont. One candidate advocated for a balanced budget, to begin the crucial process of addressing the town’s fiscal deficit. This responsible position was distorted as aiming to slash the school budget by millions of dollars. Some committee officials who remained silent to this slander, or perpetuated it, had expressed the same concerns about the increasing school budget (despite enrollment plummeting to 2015 levels) prior to and following the campaign.
Belmont Property Taxes - A Journey through Abatement
Belmont homeowners have just received the 3rd Quarter Real Estate Tax bill. If you are a renter, this will soon impact you too. CFRB shares an informative journey on evaluating your taxes and filing an abatement if you find these unfairly high.
CFRB Acquires Non-Profit Status
Citizens for a Fiscally Responsible Belmont Inc. (CFRB , Inc.) has been designated a 501(c)(4) non-profit corporation, a tax-exempt status reserved by the IRS for organizations which promote the general welfare of their community.
This means CFRB can receive donations while maintaining the privacy of all donors. Marie Warner, Vice President, said, “Our supporters can now contribute to a fiscally responsible Belmont without worrying about the retribution or bullying that have gone along with past challenges to the town’s status quo.”
The Loyal Opposition
The term loyal opposition is generally associated with Britain’s parliamentary system and is used to describe the party (or parties) in formal opposition to the sitting government. Most critically, the concept specifies that those who oppose are completely loyal to the monarch in the case of the UK or to the country in the case of other parliamentary systems. Equally, the positions the loyal opposition espouses and debates that take place are seen to be central to ensuring that government is a trusted and flourishing institution. The concept is one that Belmont would do well to adopt albeit in a slightly modified form.