ROCKINGHAM — The Town and Villages Citizens Audit Committee (TVCAC) will meet on Saturday, Oct. 19, at 11 a.m. at the Train Depot in Bellows Falls on Depot Street.
According to committee organizers, TVCAC was formed in September as a way for many in the community to ensure their voices would be heard and acted on in municipal budget matters.
The group said in a press statement it was “inspired by a similar effort in Redding, Conn., to employ citizens to undertake independent audits of town departments.” That statement pointed toward www.smarttowns.org as a source of more information.
TVCAC said it would look at finances in the town of Rockingham and the villages of Bellows Falls and Saxtons River. It also said it plans to begin the process of requesting information for audits of selected departments, including the Town Hall, Development Office, Police Department, Fire Department, Highway Department, Water and Wastewater Departments, the Rockingham Free Public Library, and the public school system.
The committee says residents interested in serving as committee officers and subcommittee heads should attend.
The website www.smarttowns.org describes itself as a project of the Redding, Conn., taxpayer group Nonpartisan Action for a Better Redding (NABR), which says that its website is on hold indefinitely, and that although few of its suggestions were adopted in the 2010 Redding town budget it has expanded its scope to help cities and towns save money.
It offers a PDF it describes as a concise manual for town officials and taxpayer groups to follow in reducing local taxes with audits.