I am writing today to express my concerns regarding the proposed town budget. I do not believe this is a good proposal for the town or the taxpayers. I believe voters should reject the budget at the upcoming town meeting.
Despite a $1.061MM increase in revenue why was it decided that the mill rate would increase as well? Times are tough out there, I really would have liked to see some relief for the taxpayers and have the mill rate decrease instead.
I understand there were some deficiencies in personnel compensation. Of course, the town will pay more for goods and services due to inflation this year. Other surrounding town governments and school districts have been very conservative during the budget cycle and have committed to keeping increases minimal. The typical taxpayer is also facing the same challenges with inflation.
I understand most of the increased spending is from the solar farm revenues. I also realize our town has been deficient in many areas due to our previous town manager. The Board of Selectmen hired the former town manager, and the board should not be making him the scapegoat in this situation as the board was responsible for his actions. As a result, taxpayers are being punished for the lack of accountability over the previous town administration.
How can the selectmen and town administration justify all these increases in such an unstable economy? It’s easy for the current town manager to say conditions will improve over time as the town projects new revenue over the next few years. However, we don’t know what the future global economic conditions will be. I would prefer to see these budget increases staggered over several years if the increases are truly necessary.
I won’t be supporting the budget as presented at the upcoming town meeting on May 9th.
Nickolas Bray
Farmington
