As someone eligible to use it, I don’t oppose a new senior center, but I believe we can’t afford it. The town already faces too many existing and future infrastructure repair and replacement projects, totaling millions of dollars.
The $5.25 million senior center proposal voted down by the Town Council is under review for reduction, but many have argued that reducing it would mean a loss of required services.
As Town Council prepares to revisit the issue in April, we should remember that what things cost and what we ultimately pay for them are very different if we have to borrow the money, as we will.
The $5.25 million estimated “cost” of the senior center is what we’re borrowing, not what we’ll pay back. Total payments on a 30-year bond to build the senior center will likely be a lot closer to $8 million. Sadly, just as we finish paying for it, we’ll be voting on money to repair it.
Greenfield’s spending problem drives Greenfield’s tax problem. So we can keep deferring needed repair and replacement of infrastructure we already own. We can keep raising rates and fees for services that used to be included in our taxes. We can keep borrowing to add costly new buildings to a town with a population that isn’t growing. We can do all of that, just as long as everyone’s OK with the tax increases it will require to pay for it in the years ahead.
But if you’re not OK with that, take a moment to reach out to your elected Town Council before next month’s meeting, because by remaining silent, you’re approving of the continued discretionary spending that’s leading to all of us paying even higher taxes than we do now. All the contact info you need is at http://greenfield-ma.gov/p/115/Town-Council.
GARY GREENE
Greenfield