BY DARRELL HALEN

A group of residents have signed a petition warrant article that, if approved by voters in March, would create a budget committee in Windham.

Thomas Saad, who submitted the petition, said a budget committee would provide another set of “eyes and ears” – people who would work to see that tax dollars are spent wisely – to the town.

The warrant article, as written, would “assist voters in the prudent appropriation of public funds.” If approved, committee members would be appointed by the town moderator for the first year.

In future years, members would be elected.

The committee would consist of seven members, including a selectman and school board member.
One of the at-large members, Saad said, would be a representative of the Cobbetts Pond Village District.

Saad, a former school principal, said he hopes people who would serve on the committee will be those who have experience working with budgets.

His proposal that a budget committee be formed, he said, is not an attack on any individual or board in town. During talks with friends, people wanted to know what could be done to get taxes under control and having a budget committee seemed like a good idea, he said.

With the town growing and a high school planned, it’s important that another group scrutinize school and town spending, he said.

Most selectmen, however, oppose having a budget committee.

During their Jan. 15 meeting, selectmen voted 3-2 to not recommend Saad’s warrant article.

Voting not to recommend were Dennis Senibaldi, Galen Stearns and Margaret Crisler. On the other side of the vote was Roger Hohenberger, who had signed the petition, and Alan Carpenter.

Senibaldi said he believes having a budget panel adds another level of bureaucracy to town government.

Crisler argued some communities that have budget committees have high tax rates. Windham is doing fine without one, she said, noting that the town has a low tax rate, has built large capital projects without taking on a large amount of debt, and is according to its auditors, a “jewel of southern New Hampshire.”

The town’s capital improvement program, she said, has been a good management tool for the town.
The people who manage the town’s budget – the board of selectmen – should be the same folks who devise the budget, she argued.

“I feel adding a budget committee will add more strife and more politicking in town,” Crisler said.
Stearns added that members of a budget committee don’t have to live with the decisions they make.

Carpenter said he’s not in favor of the warrant article, but that he hopes the split vote – which will be printed on the ballot – will prompt voters to pay attention to the article and make up their own minds.

Saad said he doesn’t believe selectmen have the right to make a recommendation on the article. And he fears that because the article will be placed near the end of the ballot, voters tired from reading the ballot will simply go with the selectmen’s recommendation.

“It should be left solely to the voters without the influence of the selectmen,” he said.