Republican Monopoly
Robert Kostes - Chairman

The Republican monopoly pushed through more cuts before approving the budget. They marched in to the Town Council meeting with a list of cuts and didn't even bother to have copies for their Democratic colleagues.

The Republicans made heartfelt pleas for the working families who have to work two jobs to pay their mortgage. It is hard for me to disagree with the desire to cut costs but not at the expense of quality of life. However, it was the way in which these cuts were done which was disturbing.

Councilman Szendy refused to give a reason for the cuts. Perhaps he didn't want to divulge the real reason. Herein lies the dilemma for the monopoly.

The monopoly answers to the developers in town and no one else. Some level of development is necessary in a healthy community, but when it is the sole focus, problems arise. Lower taxes make homes more competitive versus other towns further south.

Building a house has a certain amount of economic benefit; however, there are also costs which include an increased demand on town services (roads, schools, police, etc.). A child in the school system costs about $9,000. A typical home pays $6-8,000 in taxes. Every new home puts an upward pressure on the cost of town services. A small group reaps the economic benefit but the additional costs are borne by all homeowners.

The monopoly is the very cause of the higher budgets they are cutting. I expect that the plan is to keep taxes artificially low until there are no more homes to build. Then taxes will jump dramatically to reflect the true needs of the town. At that point, they won't care if you can afford to live here or not. Voters must decide if this is the path they desire.