Why are there six towns on Martha’s Vineyard, each with its own administrative costs? A single Island administration, police, fire, etc. would greatly reduce costs and of course taxes. The story about each town’s budget issues all seem to have the common theme of administrative costs, especially salaries and benefits.

Years ago, Indianapolis merged with Marion County to form a city-county government to greatly reduce costs. I have no doubt the merger of the Island towns has been discussed before and I would love to hear the reasons why this idea is not considered.

With six different towns duplicating many administrative services, great savings can be realized.

Larry Lewis
Scotia, N.Y.