|
Canton's Taxing Situation
By Bob Davidson, Canton
The Board of Education approves a $15 million school budget—a 6.62% increase over last year—with $540,000 of the increase for mandated salary increases negotiated with the teachers' union. It is likely that, as a fallout from the Enron collapse, the cost of the town's waste disposal will skyrocket. Add to that the likelihood that the State may be forced to cut aid to cities and towns.
Some elderly residents, who have barely been able to keep up with years of tax increases, may be forced to give up the homes they have lived in for decades. Some optimists have claimed the State will find a way to take the burden off property taxes. They have failed to explain how the State will make up the resulting income shortfall without taxing us somewhere else or further reducing aid to towns for education, roads, etc.
If we do not want to—and can't (because of mandated salary increases)—reduce the cost and the quality of our children's education, what are our options? Increasing revenue from taxes on existing property is a solution that will further burden the elderly on fixed incomes. A significant growth in new construction would broaden the tax base and thus town income.
If that new construction were in residential property, the gain in tax revenue would be short-lived. As new families move in, the number of new children entering the school system would rise—and away we go again. If, on the other hand, there was a major increase in non-residential construction, there would be increased tax revenue without the need to expand the school system.
When the inevitable happens during the next year or two and our taxes jump, perhaps a new survey should be taken with questions like the following:
• Do you prefer higher property taxes to commercial development on Route 44?
• Would you be willing to see the quality of our school system decline rather than allow the Konover developers to have the zone change they requested?
• If the State can improve the traffic flow on Route 44, would you favor having a high quality major retailer on Route 44?
• Do you now consider Route 44 a commercial highway?
• Are you willing to further restrict commercial development on Route 44, even if it means higher property taxes?
If we really CARE about what our citizens (all of them) want and think is important, having them respond to the questions would give us the answer. To avoid past mistakes it would be wise to identify responses given by C.A.R.E. members when tabulating the results. This would avoid stacking the deck, and of course C.A.R.E. would want to be FAIR (For All Interested Residents).
| 
