Here is a map of the 50 states ranked by overall fiscal solvency, and ranked by long-run solvency.  By the Mercatus Center at George Washington University.  Massachusetts ranks 48 out of 50 in overall fiscal solvency.  Only New Jersey and Illinois are in worse shape.

What does this have to do with the Natick Budget?  Natick gets a significant portion of its yearly funding from State Aid.  If the MA budget struggles, the Natick budget will struggle.  

Welcome to the NatickBudget blog!  As the description above says, the purpose of this blog is to facilitate the sharing of insights and opinions on the Natick town budget.  An in-depth view of the Natick budget can be found at www.NatickBudget.com.  

For background information, I am a former member of the Natick Finance Committee, so I have had the pleasure of digging into the Natick budget in significant detail.  Some of the topics that could probably use some discussion:

•  How much of the Natick budget should be dedicated to supporting the Natick Public Schools?  That percentage has been increasing each year.  And the NPS makes the case that it is seriously underfunded.  A proposition 2 ½ operational over-ride is likely to come before voters this year. 

• What are Natick’s funding priorities?  If the town HAD to cut $100,000 out of a budget, what is the cutting priority?  Libraries?  DPW? Schools?  Golf Course?  Community Farm?  Downtown Cultural Center?  Community Center?  Fire Department?  Police Department?  CPR training at the high-school?  Natick rescue divers?  For what it’s worth, there are really only a few places that have budgets large enough to cut to make any significant difference: NPS, Public Safety, and DPW.

• What do people think of the budget process?  From the Finance Committee to the Selectmen, from the School Committee to the Town Administrator, over to the ultimate deciders, Town Meeting, a LOT of cooks have a hand in making the budget. 

• Has the strategy of the Selectmen to encourage high-density housing been helpful to Natick or not?  From a budgetary perspective such as impact on schools, DPW, etc.

• What the heck is taking so long to fix the Marion Street Bridge?  That has nothing to do what-so-ever with the budget, but it’s a pet peeve of mine.