$210,000? Nothing to Sneeze At!

Although Middleboro Selectmen have convinced themselves that all budgets are "bare bones" and we wouldn't expect them to look any further unless the Town Manager told them to, the little town of Provincetown is taking cost cutting measures --

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Provincetown has 97 town retirees eligible for Medicare. As it stands now, the town pays them about $698,000 annually, benefits administrator Pam Hudson said. Under the plan, the town would pay about $488,000 annually, a savings of about 30 percent.
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Middleboro has ~ 300 retirees.
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Provincetown is not alone --
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In a spot check of Cape towns, Sandwich, Mashpee, Falmouth and Orleans have adopted the state law requiring town retirees age 65 and older to enroll in Medicare. Barnstable and Provincetown are among those considering it.
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This seems to be the secret to accomplishing the change --
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Town officials in Orleans and Mashpee said a campaign to fully educate retirees about the plan, and its costs and benefits, was an important reason the measure passed at town meetings.
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When you begin with the mindset that you're already at "bare bones," you sabotage yourself.

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Partially through the school year, this is what the school department saved -- $318,512? Nothing to sneeze at!

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If the mindset can't be changed, maybe the BOS should be changed.