“The more things change, the more they remain the same.” “Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose.”
Hamill
We are grappling again with our school and town budget. It has been complicated by leadership turnover in our schools and multiple crises from a local to national level. We have evolved from local control of education and curriculum to being a social services provider and much of our funding has gone away.
We have built a “tax and spend” empire heavily dependent on debt. Voters continue to demand we “stop spending” and “slow growth.” It has fallen on deaf ears. There will be a harsh reckoning.
On April 3, the council approved a 6.4% first reading net budget following a long run of relatively modest mill rate increases in recent years. The FY 2025 budget increase will be compounded by the revaluation and reassessment, our second in over 10 years. The citizens who will be hardest hit are our oldest long-term residents who benefited from the one-year senior tax freeze. The development boom has helped some, but many others will confront a tough choice of selling homes to pay tax bills with no affordable housing options in Scarborough.
We need to share the tough news of the assessment, ASAP. The “pie in the sky” benefits of deficit spending to drive development have not come true for most of our citizens and the average resident. Let’s rebuild our fund balance and financial reserves, reduce spending and buying on credit, and go from there.
Don Hamill is a member of the Scarborough Town Council. The views and opinions he expresses in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the Town Council.
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