Saturday, September 6, 2008

The public has mandatory costs too

Guest Perspective by Kris MacNeil
Thank you Mayor Bouley, members of the City Council, and City Manager Tom Aspell for allowing me to speak tonight regarding the petition recommending a limitation of budget increases. For the record, my name is Kris MacNeil; and I live on Walker Street.
I think it is very important for the members of this Council to understand that many of us who signed this petition, did so knowing full well the limitations of the control of the Council’s spending. We understand that the school district’s budget is separate, and that you have no power over the School Board; and I think many of us regret that. We realize that Concord pays 25.8 percent of the County tax. We look each year at the mandatory costs, the increase in insurance benefits, retirement, poor investment returns, and fuel bills. We know, and regret, that 25 % of Concord’s property is tax-free; and yes, our legislature should be focusing on more specific activities that merit this tax-exemption. And we are fully aware that when bills go out for property taxes, not everyone is able to pay. And, many of us are downright angry about the cost-shifting exercises that our state government has accomplished.
But you must understand, too, that the citizens out here have plenty of mandatory costs, themselves. And times are rough, out here, for many of the very same reasons the city budget’s not healthy; but it is worse for retirees and those with small businesses and no bargaining power. To paraphrase Alice Medley, our “needs” are completely overshadowing our “wants.” And that is all we want to happen, with this petition. We “hope” you will allow this to go before the voters. We “hope” that with each budget hearing, you can separate those “needs’ from “wants”, and save them for times that are less dire. When the budget has incredible “needs”, you will have to come up with a vote of ten councilors, for a two-thirds vote, instead of eight councilors, for a simple majority. If there must be more discussion, then that’s a good thing. But, honestly, here in Concord, for those who claim the impossibility of attaining that two-thirds vote to over-ride a tax cap, having at least ten council votes to pass a budget, or more, is the norm in our city. This is not going to limit you. This will enable the City Council to be more aware of the “needs” of its people. This will make the people more sympathetic to the City Council. I hope you will agree to put this on the ballot with a two-thirds vote, at a minimum, to send that message of “hope” to your constituents. Thank you.
Kris MacNeil lives in Concord and is a candidate for state Senate. She read these comments at Thursday's tax cap public hearing.

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