Quote:
Originally Posted by Sweetwater
Mansfield...call the bluff and refuse any tax increases. If you let tax increases go through, you'll never get it back. But...the economy will improve eventually. Tax increases are never short term solutions.
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The tax increase would legally only be for this year. Prop 2 1/2 limits helps protect the residents in that aspect.
The selectmen need to accept the request from the schools for an override. Then the selectmen would have to vote to present that information to the town for the town to vote on at a special meeting with an open hearing.
At a ton of these meetings, Mansfield Crossing was discussed and voted on. One of the sales to the town was the estimated $1 million in added revenue to the town. What they left out was the requirement to add a handful of police, fire and other town personnel/services - all for a single shopping center. From what I hear, that the added personnel ate up over 3/4s of the money and that's just what was reported.
I've had a theory about this town for the last year. The town government had so much money coming in from Great Woods, an industrial park that was packed full and the revenue that was gained through permitting and taxes from all the new home construction that they didn't have to be wise with their money. The town got two new ambulances, couple new fire engines, expanded high school, redesigned bus pickup/drop-off for grades 6-12 and 4 or 5 repavings of Pratt St between Hope and Franklin St.
There was so much money coming in that they could spend, spend spend and with that, huge areas of waste developed along with massive areas of bloat. Now, that there's significantly less money coming it and a huge bubble of students entering the middle and high schools, they don't know where to gather the funds.
It's absolutely ridiculous that with so many different revenue streams that the town is consistently facing so much hardship. Add in that piece of crap Town Manager that they finally fired and the current state of the town is the result.
I agree completely agree with Buckman, No Override and vote them out.