The proposed Proposition 2 ½ override will devastate many in our city, wrote Barry Roth in a recent guest column. He’s right.
As Mr. Roth points out, the relentless increases in taxes and fees puts an undue burden on taxpayers who live on fixed incomes. One of my neighbors, who relies primarily on Social Security, can barely make ends meet today. When I asked him what he thought about the override, this retiree said: “Absolutely, no. If I have to watch my expenses, and give up some things, so should the city!”
The average Social Security recipient gets about $18,900 per year in benefits, says Mr. Roth. This is far less income than the 50 or so “public servants” in Northampton, who are making over $100,000 a year — and enjoying far better health insurance and taxpayer-funded pension benefits than most of the rest of us. There is no justification for yet another tax hike in Northampton.
As Mr. Roth notes, in addition to overrides in 2009 and 2013, Northampton residents got hit with a 3% property surcharge in 2005 for the Community Preservation Act, a 1% increase in the local meal tax in 2017, and numerous water and sewer rate increases, including a new stormwater fee.
Proposition 2 ½ was enacted to protect taxpayers from unreasonable and unjustified property tax increases. Enough is enough. It’s time that public officials stop viewing taxes and Northampton taxpayers as an all-you-can-eat buffet. They can start by reducing salaries and gold-plated benefits, and continue by doing a better job of cutting costs.
As President Calvin Coolidge — a former Northampton mayor — once said: “There is no dignity quite so impressive, and no independence quite so important, as living within your means.”
The city needs to live within its means. Vote no on the Proposition 2 ½ override question on March 3.
Gregory Sandler
Northampton