TOWN COUNCIL MEETING -----JAN. 4, 2010

This past month I watched the Town Council meeting on channel 15. I was especially interested in the pleas of the advocates for a lower share of home taxes and the counter advocates for lower Commercial-Industrial share. Both argued to have the greater share of the tax burden shifted to the other segment. It was unfortunate that both were disappointed; taxes rose on both segments. The Town Council used the majority of the meeting arguing about the TAX SHIFT with motion after motion shifting the burden back and forth between the two segments; ultimately it ended in a near tie. NO ONE WAS HAPPY..

Now how do we make both segments happy? This is a real question that defies a simple solution acceptable to the Town’s Administration. The answer is simply REDUCE SPENDING. The result will not necessarily shift the proportional tax load between the commercial and residential segments of our economy, but it will reduce the taxes for ALL.

On the surface this appears to be a simple solution; however, implementation is a bit more complex. We have a strong mayor form of government that somehow the Town Council has little to no influence in controlling the actions of the Mayor. Examples are numerous---use of private contractors in place of the DPW, eviction of the Lower Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, the expected expansion of Town Government to fill that vacant space, a sidewalk around the common on Elm St. where snow can be stored following a storm, elimination of parking spaces on Center St. and Elm St., reorganizing Town Government by creating Division Heads (this takes the load off the Mayor so department heads do not report to him directly), There is an attitude in administration that replacing building is preferable to providing good maintenance to these buildings, and so it goes----one extravagant move following another.

It is incumbent upon the Town Council to effectively address these issues so the Taxpayer would not have to face a 7+% increase in budget each year plus a growing bond indebtedness. If the Town Council cannot (or will not) exercise controls necessary to keep spending and bonding under control it may be time to think about a charter change or better still----RETURN TO TOWN MEETING.

Victor Thomas, 67 Riverview Ave., W. Springfield,