This is a follow-up to the recent excellent letter concerning property taxes in the town of Deerfield.
We retired and moved to Deerfield in 2008. My wife traces her family back to Eliezer Hawks who was a selectman and deacon at the time of the 1704 Deerfield Raid. We live in a two- bedroom condo at the Meadows. Since 2008 our taxes have increased by 240%. Our most recent increase went from $6,000 to $7,200 which was a 20% increase in one year. Owners at Sugarloaf Condominiums saw even larger increases.
In the past, I served as a county judge/county executive in Texas. Our tax increases were never greater than a few percentage points. Had we raised taxes as Deerfield does, we would have been driven out by angry mobs.
We now hear that Franklin County Technical School wants a $246 million dollar complex while the Deerfield schools seek another million for health costs. This is in addition to monies sought for a worthy senior center.
At a recent Select Board meeting, the chairman yelled “Go Eagles” and stated that he would push for a tax override to support his alma mater. Never once did he mention the already over-burdened taxpayers.
The Board of Assessors here appears to me to be a town ATM machine. We should add Count Dracula to our town seal. He sucks the living blood out of victims.
Joe Durham
South Deerfield