BRATTLEBORO — Last October, in a Special Representative Town Meeting, Brattleboro representatives put their stamp of approval on a $14 million bond for renovations and additions to the police and fire department buildings. Over the 20-year period of the bond, the $14 million will grow to over $20 million with interest.
This action allowed the Selectboard to include the bond amount in the town budget, which is to be approved or disapproved at Representative Town Meeting on March 23 by fewer than 140 representatives.
The argument for the bond is that these improvements have been needed for years and that they will cost more each year a bond is rejected. But the proposed bonds were rejected in the past not because the repairs weren't needed, but because each time the cost was excessive for the time and beyond what the taxpayers could bear - as it is now.
The formula for determining the effect on the taxpayers, as well as those that the costs will trickle down to, of another $1 million in the budget each year for 20 years is well beyond my capabilities.
But surely the overall financial picture is clear when you add the ever-increasing salaries and benefits for municipal and school employees to the formula, and then the school tax rate.
These expenses will force many middle-class residents to move out of town, making room for only those with higher annual incomes.
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No matter how you look at it, Brattleboro spending is out of control. We speak, write, and think in shorthand. No time is given to consider the consequences of financial decisions. Taxpayers are inundated with only the possible advantages of a project, never the possible disadvantages.
The governing bodies appear to have forgotten that Brattleboro doesn't exist in an exclusive bubble.
Here's just a few of the current economic factors that will affect the town in the next two years:
• the federal sequester;
• the governor's recommended state budget cuts;
• increased rates for water and sewer;
• maintenance of sewer lines to Algiers, which might require hiring more personnel at the Department of Public Works;
• the transfer of Guilford middle schoolers to Brattleboro Area Middle School, which might require the hiring of more teachers in a year or two;
• the enlargement of the Police Station, which could accommodate a larger police force;
• the bond for sidewalk replacement on the east side of Main Street. (How much will that cost?)
The point is: nothing is carved in stone, and the best scenarios and financial projections can collapse in a matter of weeks due to circumstances in town or beyond.
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If tax rates were computed on an individual's income rather than the value of his or her property, I believe much more attention would be paid to the costs and consequences of proposed projects.
It's obvious that the fire station must be renovated, and that the police station needs upgrades. But the cost is simply over the top. With some creativity and imagination, we can find many ways to reduce the amount of this bond.
Why, for example, does a new gym have to be included in the police department renovations when it would cost a lot less to simply provide a year's membership for each officer to one of the excellent local gyms?
Police and fire department personnel are always to be applauded for their excellent services. But there is more than enough room, particularly in the police station, to reconfigure the space for safe, comfortable, and efficient operation without the necessity of enlarging the area almost half again.
Reconfiguring these renovations would reduce the bond's cost significantly - and taxpayers would be relieved somewhat of a crushing tax burden.
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Article I of the Brattleboro Town Charter specifies the reasons for the document, among which is “respecting the will of the people.”
The true expression of the people's wishes, whether pro or con, has not been realized in the matter of the police and fire department renovations and additions project.
Contact your representatives and Selectboard members and ask that they support reduction of the budget to a reasonable figure at Town Representative Meeting.
And if that fails, a Petition for a Referendum for an Australian Ballot vote on the budget should be circulated and delivered to the town clerk within 10 days from March 23.
Keep the town budget and spending under control - your control.
It is, after all, your money that's being spent.