Recently, the Recorder published articles about the Sugarloaf Condominium residents complaining about their tax increase this year. Honestly, all Deerfield taxpayers have seen a tax increase this year. There are approximately 2,960 tax bills sent out annually. Simple math tells you that these few households are responsible for helping to pay the town’s bills. During the past few years, the town voted to fund several multimillion dollar projects. Now add in the many town departments’ increased budgets and additional personnel hires, serious health insurance increases, matching grant monies, school choice costs, new equipment costs, and pending lawsuits and the perfect storm results in tax increases.
The town employees who govern Deerfield, hopefully, will set a budget this year that is reasonable for the taxpayers. The assessors compute the monies received by the town and the monies necessary to pay the bills using the current tax rate. Since more money is necessary to pay the bills, that means assessments must increase if the bills are to be paid.
Because there are many people living in Deerfield who are not taxpayers, our population is around 5,000, their votes are part of the fiscal decisions made at town meetings. If you are a taxpayer, your vote is very important in making these same decisions. Voting is such an important right for citizens.
The spring Town Meeting is important for all taxpayers to attend and vote for those items that are important and to vote down those items that may need to wait until the town can reasonably and fiscally afford them. It is time for Deerfield to stop “hitting hard” the few taxpayers who continue to finance the town’s budget. Please come to the spring Town Meeting to vote and make your voices heard. Deerfield needs to “tighten the belt.”
Charlene Galenski
South Deerfield