To the Editor:

Next week, Newtown citizens vote on $14 million for big projects, in addition to the town and education budgets. The $14 million is mostly for necessary repairs to town buildings. It’s a lot, but without the repairs, key buildings will be damaged or closed. The buildings at risk are the high school, our wonderful library, the Community Center and the historic Edmond Town Hall. These buildings are all cornerstones of our town. Newtown wouldn’t be Newtown without them.

Not many people tend to vote on our town budgets. Last year, it was under 20% of us. That is a small number to decide the fate of our town. Please, if you use and appreciate our town buildings, take the time on April 22nd to approve the money to keep them open.

No part of the project costs will show up in our taxes this year. The Town will borrow the money for repairs. In coming years, the borrowed money will have a small impact through the interest our Town pays on debt. Total town debt is required to stay below 8.5% and the new bonds will not push us over that limit. Newtown has an excellent credit rating and pays lower interest on its debt in part because of the 8.5% cap.

Why so many repairs all at once? The Town postponed some big projects until older bonds were paid off to stay under its 8.5% debt limit. This is true for the high school roof and the library heating system projects. Edmond Town Hall could use more work than its current proposal covers, but the requested amount keeps it running. It is too bad that our brand-new Community Center already needs a costly repair. That project makes me grumble, but sometimes bad luck happens.

The capital improvement projects have been sweated over to bring their costs down. For example, the library’s old heating system has been nursed along since 2011. Many possible solutions have been considered. The current proposal is the result of those years of study. The library HVAC system has reached the point of no return and must be replaced. I can’t imagine Newtown without our library. It is heavily used and is one of our unique public buildings.

I know we are facing a tax increase this year. Some of us may want to say no to it all. Please remember that the town building repairs do not affect this year’s budget and will not have a significant impact on future taxes. What would be significant is not having the use of our town buildings. That would be a big loss.

Anne Renner

Sandy Hook