At the last Select Board meeting, it was announced that the town has a surplus of several hundred thousand dollars. During the campaign, Dan Golden said that we should return the surplus to the tax payers. A good idea from political stand point, but it is impractical and will ultimately cost us more in the long run.
We only have an actual surplus when all the bills are paid, all the town buildings are in good repair, all of the equipment is in good repair, we have a cash reserve to take care of upcoming capital replacement expenses, and all of the roads are in good repair. This, however, is not the case. The town has failed to keep the roads in good repair, we are going to need to replace equipment at the Transfer Station, the Booster Club still needs work, and the fire station needs repairs. The cost to repair Thompson Street and Smith Hill Road today is about $750,000, about twice the "surplus."
The town has no long term capital improvement plan, so we do not know how much we need to put away to cover future expenses. If we return the current surplus to the tax payers, tax payers will receive a few dollars, but we will have to pay much more later.
So are you really saying we should spend it just because we have it? All these things you mention will cost a lot of money. We need a plan first. In the meantime, give us back the money.
ReplyDeleteWe are not saying that we should spend it just because we have it. We agree that we should prioritize and plan before we spend money. The town has been planning to repair Thompson Street and Smith Hill Road for some time but has not had the money to do so.
ReplyDeleteWhat we are saying is that there is no actual surplus. The town has roads and buildings that are in need of repair, and it will have to replace expensive equipment over the next few years. Like it or not, these are town responsibilities. We can either take the "surplus" money and put it in reserve to help meet these expenses, or we can return a small amount to each tax payer now, but raise taxes and take out loans in the future. If we place short-term considerations first, it will end up costing us much more in the long run.