From the category archives:

Editorials

Sunshine Week 2010

March 17, 2010

Each year, on the anniversary of James Madison’s birth, we celebrate Sunshine Week, a national observance of the importance of open government and freedom of information.  James Madison, author of the Bill of Rights and our fourth President, stressed the importance of citizen access to information, saying: A popular government without popular information, or the [...]

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In Government, Business is Booming

September 21, 2008

Recent discussions among Westford Taxpayers Association members raised a number of interesting questions about local government. Everyone seemed to have an opinion about the cost and size of government, but we found ourselves lacking the facts. We decided we needed definitive information, and that’s what this article presents. Looking at Westford’s annual budgets, it wasn’t [...]

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Westford is Going Broke Slowly

April 11, 2007

Westford is going broke slowly. That’s because the forward-looking trend shows that our expenses will consistently exceed revenue generated by property taxes, fees, and aid from state government. How did this happen? In addition to losing sight of the fundamental purpose of government, we have a propensity to approve labor contracts with unsupportable wage increases [...]

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A Small Price to Pay to Save a Life

April 11, 2007

If you believe one of the fundamental purposes of government is to provide a safe environment for its citizens, then why not fund the staffing of the Rogers Fire Station? A miniscule 0.8-percent reduction in discretionary spending would free up $604,746 to fully staff the Rogers Fire Station — year after year — without the [...]

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Westford's Health Insurance Crisis

February 28, 2007

In his FY08 budget cover letter to members of the Westford Board of Selectmen and Finance Committee, town manager Steve Ledoux said, “The main challenge that the Town of Westford faces is that the growth in tax revenue under Proposition 2-1/2 does not even cover the increase in health insurance costs. This problem is not [...]

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