What it does
The Article imagines an endowment funded by siphoning off a little money now and somehow more in the future. Its advocates explain a lengthy model of interest accruals to show how a little upfront savings in the present and moderate savings in the near future would provide Brookline with a lot of money in the distant future.
What I think
I feel like we're being sold something we don't need, and that the surplus funds essentially already serve this purpose.
If you think we have a windfall and shouldn't spend it, make that argument.
If you think the surplus funds should be invested differently, make that argument.
If you think the surplus fund should be limited or spent differently, make that argument.
Reserve instruments like this Social Wealth Fund to address looming future concerns like the program it cites in Berlin, which is focused on an expected set of future climate impacts.
How I'll vote and why
I'm a no on this one. Funding instruments like this complicate the state of the town's finances, exposing it to additional risk and costs, and making discussions of budgets and revenues harder to track.
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