To the Editor:

We’re all feeling short of money. Prices are going up, savings and investments, for those who have them, are going down. And now we’re being asked to vote for a budget that will increase our taxes. No wonder people are feeling angry! But we need to make sure we protect and invest in the community we all love.

The municipal and education budgets have gone through all of the town governing bodies, & have been reduced as much as possible. There are no luxuries or frivolous expenses, only the minimum needed to keep our town and schools functioning. We’ve been lucky to have had very low tax increases for years, but this year many factors came together to reduce revenues and increase costs. If we want Newtown to remain a beautiful & safe community, where everyone can thrive, we should vote for both budgets.

In addition to the municipal and education budgets, there are five referendum items that we’ll be voting on: the library HVAC, the high school roof, Edmond Town Hall repairs, bridge work, and the community center HVAC. These are all infrastructure projects that will have no immediate effect on our taxes; the town will borrow the money to pay for these. Some of these should have been fixed years ago, but were delayed & delayed, and over the years, the cost has increased. If we don’t fix them now, we will end up losing our library and our high school.

Please support Newtown. Please vote yes on both budgets and all five projects on April 22.

Ed Randall

Newtown