2006 Will Bring New Costs

And New Opportunities

To the Editor:

What will 2006 bring? Increased costs of gasoline and heating oil for schools, buses, police cars, town trucks, and municipal buildings will impact town budgets just as they have our personal home budgets. Unfortunately, additional costs for town services get passed to the residents in the form of higher taxes (or higher rents). This is going to be a challenge this year since personal budgets will be tightening and wage increases for most people can be expected to remain in the three percent range. This is going to result in a real strain on town budgets and the budgets of its citizens. The next three to five years do not suggest any easing of this situation. I believe it will not go away on its own so we must deal with it and sooner is better than later.

What can we do? I, for one, would like us to be more aggressive about economic development. Businesses pay substantial taxes and create employment opportunities (state income taxes) while not directly adding to the school burden like residential home and apartment development does. Businesses do create traffic and should be located in areas designed accordingly. Over-55 communities are also a great way to expand the tax base in a positive way. Fairfield Hills remains an outstanding asset that the town can use to generate considerable economic development. So far we have only managed to begin to utilize it for new municipal office space. It seems like more commercial progress can be made that would help finance the municipal uses planned for part of the space so that current tax revenue can be used to provide services.

Ken Schiess

10 Watch Hill Drive, Sandy Hook                         December 20, 2005