Hey all, the Town finally finished the budget - ugh 2.5% increase, rounding out our new year's budget at $97 million! Mind you it is not a balanced budget. Town Council will be applying a surplus of $2million to fund the budget.
Ahh you could say - what's the big deal? It's a few dollars per capita. In my opinion, I would have taken the surplus, apply it directly to capital improvements that have been delayed or invest the surplus in attracting more business (new tax payers) to town. To fund a shortfall in the operating budget? Shame on you Town Council!
At least the Library's budget will stay intact as it was originally submitted. We will continue to have Saturdays open and Sundays in the fall/winter/spring . The Lucy Robbins Welles Library will continue to deliver superior materials, programs and assistance to our residents. I did a quick calcuation, just in the book circulation alone, the Library delivered over $8 million dollars of value to the town in just one year.
Other interesting information that came out from this budget season. Newington's per capita debt for past construction projects is approximately $643/ person! The state is averaging $2,139 per capita and the US Government isn't making getting older any easier. It rings in at $13 Trillion by the time I finish typing this entry. Per capita debt with a population at about 308 million folks, debt for the Fed's is approximately $42,000!!! Mind you this is a moving target. Just think that each new baby arriving today is saddled with just about $50K of debt.
Please pay attention to your government, Call your legislators, visit them at town meetings, let them know that this mounting debt must be controlled and raising taxes to fund poorly planned and unproductive spending is NOT the answer.
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