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Turning Conflict into Constructive Decision Making

By Carole Owens and Patrick White

There was a moment in a recent Select Board meeting that revealed something about municipal budgeting and more about the art of decision making. It was an annual budget review meeting. Stockbridge Town Administrator Michael Canales developed and presented his first draft of the annual town budget. He presented it to the Select Board, because it is the body charged with overseeing the spending of funds appropriated by the Town — property taxes, local receipts. The budget automatically sets the tax rate.

At one point, it sounded as if a disagreement erupted between Select Board member Patrick White and Canales. White would take note of an item and want it reduced or eliminated from the budget or moved from an operating line item to free cash. Canales advocated for leaving line items unchanged. Then came the moment.

Patrick said to Michael, "you are protecting the institution, and I am trying to protect the taxpayer." What do we do with conflict?

Too often in today's world, we describe disagreement as division. We treat it as permanent. It becomes an obstacle to civility, a roadblock to problem solving. Must it? Perhaps not.

We didn't invent conflicts. As a country we have never existed without them. We were born out of conflict, and yet, look at all we accomplished.

Over time, we have come up with ways to resolve conflict at every level of government. In 1787 there were conflicts at the Constitutional Convention. For 250 years, our best moments have always been when we use words, not swords, to find ways to work together. That was, in fact, the distinguishing characteristic of the new nation — the characteristic shocking to the rest of the world — peaceful transition of power.

Make no mistake it is work — hard work — but it is peaceful, respectful, dignified work.

Allow Patrick to explain the particulars and discover that both sides deserved respect and serious consideration.

Municipal Budgeting

The tax rate is based on operational revenue and spending. The lower the projected revenue and/or the higher the project expenses and the tax rate rises. Conservative budgeting in any given year results in a surplus the next year known as "free cash". Too conservative, and the tax rate is higher than need be. Too aggressive, and the Town could run out of money. A good budget is like Goldilocks and porridge, you want to get it just right.

The taxpayers need the Town to be on a solid footing. The Towns needs the taxpayers to be well served at a burden they can afford. This is more ying and yang than either/or.

It all comes down to assumptions and predictions: how much will Town accounts earn in interest? How much will we receive in hotel and meals tax revenue? How much revenue will our rents in town hall generate? The higher you budget each of these items, the lower the property tax rate. I tend to push back if I feel the budgeting is too conservative. Michael, ever cognizant of the institutional responsibilities, sometimes agrees and sometimes does not.

These conversations are never adversarial. Assumptions are just that: a prediction of the unknown.

There is a larger point here. Decisions on the operating and capital budgets are made by both the Finance Committee and the Select Board. These boards vote, and a majority vote of each board prevails. In the rare instance where there is a disagreement between these boards, a different procedure is used at Town Meeting to air that difference in opinion. In the end, Town Meeting decides. This is an example of the rule of law applying to local government. In this time where some question whether the rule of law will apply to the federal government, it is important to note that it applies to every level of government. In this way, the process is at least as important as the outcome.

In the example we provided, there were no lines drawn in the sand, only a process informed by mutual respect, compromise, and a desire to find common ground and meet the needs of Town and Taxpayer alike.

Process and Content

We get caught up in positions — we put stakes in the ground. Remember the process: we are going to work through it. We are going to test the validity of assumptions, remind each other of the goal, make trade-offs, reach the best decision. All we can expect of one another is a process with integrity, making the best decisions with the information available to us when these decisions are made. Let it be so in every instance.