Budgets are tight. Many people are having difficulties making ends meet. Everyone who decides to vote on April 22 will have some difficult decisions to make. But one thing to note are the not one, not two, not three, but five separate questions regarding various projects in town.

While each voter will need to make their own personal decision whether or not a 6.72% tax increase, or 1.81 mill increase this year is affordable, the projects are another matter altogether.

The five projects are:

A $4,600,000 special appropriation and $4,600,000 bond authorization for the planning, design, acquisition and construction of HVAC upgrades, replacements, and improvements at Cyrenius H. Booth Library be approved.

A $4,300,000 special appropriation and $4,300,000 bond authorization for the planning, design, construction, reconstruction, remediation and replacement to the A, B, and C wings of the Newtown High School roof be approved.

A $1,524,000 special appropriation and $1,524,000 bond authorization for the planning, design, acquisition and installation of the Newtown Community Center Pool HVAC unit be approved.

A $1,000,000 special appropriation and $1,000,000 bond authorization for the Bridge Replacement Program be approved.

An $855,000 special appropriation and $855,000 bond authorization for the planning, design, renovation and upgrades to Edmond Town Hall be approved.

First of all, all five of these projects are all already baked into the town’s budget through the Capital Improvement Plan. The town sticks to roughly 10% of its budget in borrowing each year, with one year of no new borrowing every five years, most recently in just this last budget cycle, the 2024-25 budget. The town’s sound financial planning going back years allows this kind of borrowing and is part of the town’s stellar AAA credit score. The town is already expecting to be paying a certain amount in borrowing each year on a fixed schedule that keeps debt from running out of control.

So voting these projects down, even if you think the budget’s bottom line is unaffordable, is not directly saving the town any money, it’s just putting a hole in its debt schedule and pushing a project into the future.

And that leads to the second point — nothing is getting any cheaper, least of all construction materials. Matter of fact, given current federal policy, it is highly likely those costs are going to spike, at least in the near future. Any project put off from the schedule will cost more the next time the town considers doing the project. Possibly much, much, much more.

The third point is, many of these projects can’t really wait unless the town wants to simply abandon the buildings. Maybe they can be put off a year or two when it’s just materials and labor that’s more expensive, but putting it off longer could exacerbate problems and mean even more work needs to be done.

Bridges deteriorate, and work not done sooner could often lead to the entire bridge needing to be replaced later.

The buildings are all getting older and require extensive renovations to keep them in good shape for the foreseeable future. The library, built in 1932, is closing in on 100 years old, and has, as many old buildings do, needed extensive renovations but is a cornerstone of our community and worthy of investment and protection.

Newtown High School is a newer building, but everyone knows that roofs need repair, and not doing so could lead to damage to the inside of the building. The high school has had multiple recent problems with leaks.

The community center pool has shown cracks in the pool deck and its current HVAC system is not up to the needs of the high humidity pool room.

So when looking at your ballot on the 22nd, look over these projects carefully, and strongly consider giving them all your “yes” vote.